Supernatural: Brothers Again
by Yunorok
Summary: As Sam continues to sneak away and deal with Ruby despite Dean's constant protests, the brothers find themselves faced with a hunt that challenges their relationship and reminds them what it is to be brothers. In Port Washington, Wisconsin, children are disappearing from their bedrooms without a trace. Together, the brothers face a hunt that shows them what it means to be family.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Dean's back collided hard with the rough bark of an oak tree as the Tink used her magic to throw him hard. Sam ran at the culprit armed with the magical concoction that Bobby had instructed them to mix. It acted like a potent poison to the fairy monsters. He had already confirmed its power, having killed several others with it.

He sprayed the Tink with the concoction and she screamed out in pain, her small fairy-body melting away right before Sam's eyes. It did _not_ look like a pleasant way to die. Sam scanned the surrounding area. He and Dean were alone in the town's park in the middle of the night. The stars were bright in the sky without a cloud in sight. It hardly looked or felt like the battleground that it had just been.

"I think she was the last." Sam said as he helped his big brother up to his feet. It seemed like he had been doing this a lot lately. Ever since Dean had come back from Hell, he hadn't been the same. He wasn't the fierce hunter he once was. Sam still loved him, but sometimes it felt like he was more of a liability than a partner. He knew while Dean was in The Pit, Ruby and he had accomplished more in the business of hunting and ridding the world of demons than he had ever accomplished with Dean.

"Thanks." Dean gasped as he felt the tender bump on the back of his head. "I hope so. I can only take so many Disney characters a week." Sam chuckled a bit. "You ready to go?"

"Yeah." Together they headed back to their motel, satisfied with a job well-done. The walk back to their room was chilly and quiet. The weather in Evansville, Indiana was getting cold as autumn ran its course.

As they closed the door and prepared to hit the hay, neither noticed the pair of eyes watching them from the distance. Getting closer, the eyes watched through the motel window as the lights went out and the large men climbed into their beds, drifting farther from this world into the world of their dreams. A sinister smirk crossed the peeping-tom's face. "Too easy."

With a quiet incantation and a meager level of patience, the incantation-weaver would have her revenge and her reward. Once the spell was complete, she settled back in the tree, prepared to follow these boys, enjoy the show, and reap her rewards.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

With their Tink hunt over, the brothers were in the Impala already heading toward their new gig. Dean looked at his brother in the passenger seat. "So where are we going again?"

Sam sighed. "For the fifth time, we're heading to Wisconsin." Sam was getting tired of retelling Dean the details of their new job. How was it possible for someone to forget things so quickly? "Port Washington. People have been going missing and there's no explanation. No signs of struggles. No signs of forced entry. People are just vanishing from their beds at night. Mostly children."

Dean nodded, looking forward at the road. "Any idea what it could be?"

"Maybe a Changeling?" Sam speculated. "They steal children and take on their form to feed off of the parents."

"I know what a Changeling does." Dean said bluntly.

"Sorry, you just don't seem like your head's really in the game."

"Really?" Dean said, his eyes piercing Sam's.

"Yeah. Recently, it's felt like I'm carrying all the weight in each hunt." Sam tried to say it softly and peacefully. "I know you went to Hell, and I can't imagine what that was like, but I can see it in you."

"See what in me?" Dean asked, sounding irritated. This was the last thing he needed. He knew exactly where Sam was going and he didn't want to talk about it. Hell was a horrible experience. Worse than horrible. He wasn't sure there was even a word that could describe it. The things the devils had done to him… The things he had done… There was no talking about it. There was no imagining what it was like…

"Hell. What it's done to you." Sam said concernedly. Since Dean got back Sam had known something was wrong. It was like hunting bored him. He was apathetic toward everything. He was forgetful and unmotivated, but Sam knew that Dean thought he was fine. Or, at least, that's what he'd say.

"I'm fine." Dean growled. Sam rolled his eyes. _Called it…_

"You're not, Dean. You're not fine." Sam raised his voice. "You need help. You need some rest. Going from hunt after hunt isn't helping you."

"So what do you want me to do?" Dean hollered. "Let people die?"

"No, of course not." Sam looked sadly at Dean with his puppy-dog eyes. "I want you to take a break. Get your strength back. Get your head on straight."

"Not this again." Dean grumbled.

"Not what again?"

"This is the Siren all over again." Dean yelled at Sam, not even trying to hide his anger. Sam recalled the hunt for the Siren. The Siren had gotten them both entranced and had pinned the brothers against each other. Both of them had fought each other, willing to murder the other. Dean had won the fight, but both had inflicted some serious damage on each other. Not physically, but emotionally. Dean had erupted over Sam being on demon's blood and trusting Ruby. But Sam said some terrible things too. He remembered telling Dean that he was weak. That he was always feeling sorry for himself. That Sam would be better off if he wasn't around anymore. All Dean did was hold him back. He had told Dean that he was no longer the stronger brother. Sam was. One of the brothers would be dead now if Bobby hadn't run to their rescue when he did.

Sam looked at Dean. He knew the things he had said to him haunted him every day. He figured it was Dean's greatest fear to be weak, or unneeded. Useless. Sam felt bad about saying those things, but it didn't change the fact that they were true. Sam still loved Dean, but it was undeniable that he had been changed by Hell. He was weak. Sam knew he would be accomplishing a lot more if it was Ruby in the car with him and not Dean. He didn't want Dean out of the picture. He just wanted him to be safe somewhere. Not hunting. Not hurting. Just relaxing. Healing. Taking care of himself. Sam sighed. He knew what he really wanted. He wanted Dean to stop judging him for working with Ruby. He wanted Dean to stop holding him back.

"It's not the siren all over again." Sam tried to ease things over with Dean. "I care about you and don't want you hurt."

"Don't worry about me. I'm not the one addicted to poison, always open to letting a demon in." Dean yelled. "If there's anyone that needs to be worried about, it's you."

Sam sighed heavily. They had this same fight every day. At least, it certainly felt like it was every single day. "I told you already, Dean, she saved my life while you were gone. She taught me how to be strong without you around."

"And now you're all-too-eager to get rid of me." Dean interrupted Sam's thoughts. "Don't worry. You keep acting like this; you'll just get what you want."

"Dean…" Sam started quietly, feeling guilty that he had hurt his brother so deeply. Dean just turned the music up louder. _You Give Love a Bad Name_ blasted through the speakers, overpowering Sam's voice and ultimately shutting him up. Sam looked down at his wrists. The veins running up his arm were dark blue and very prominent. He knew the very 'poison', the demon's blood was pumping through them at that very moment. _Maybe I do give love a bad name._ Sam shook the thoughts out of his head. _No. I want Dean to take a break for his own good. Because I love him._

The rest of the drive to Wisconsin passed with very tense silence. Neither brother spoke to each other. Sam occasionally stole glances over at Dean. Dean never moved. He was frozen, like a statue, brooding in his anger. He got like that whenever he was angry. Sam figured it was to stop himself from saying or doing anything that he would regret. Sam looked out the passenger's window, away from his brother. The scenery passed by quickly as Dean drove way too fast. He wasn't sure how to convince Dean to give up hunting. To just leave it to Sam. _He's just going to get himself hurt._ Sam thought. _I'll be fine without him._


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Port Washington was beautiful. The town rested at the foot of a big hill. Dean eased the Impala down the hill toward the heart of the historic town. Each side of the road was lined with old, quaint-looking homes, large trees changing color in the season, and apple-pie- life gardens. It made them both feel a little more at peace.

The scene before them was almost breath-taking, like something you would only see in a painting. At the foot of the hill, just through the historic town, was the harbor. Boats lined the docks, while others ventured out into Lake Michigan. At the top of another small hill off to the side of the town was a large church, its steeple clearly visible over the rest of the town, even through the explosions of red, yellow, and orange that were the large trees surrounding it.

Dean and Sam took in the sights as they drove to the first motel they could find with vacancy. Dean parked the Impala at the Harbor Hut, a dingy motel at the edge of the docks. As they made their way across the parking lot, both the brothers were overtaken by the aroma of dead fish and lake water. Despite its unpleasant stench, it still somehow made them feel good about the whole place. It made the harbor feel authentic.

They walked up to the counter and were addressed by a portly woman who looked like she had seen a lot in her days. Dean looked her up and down. _I'd never win a fight against her._

"What can I do for you?" The woman asked.

"Hi. We're looking for a room." Dean said.

"Two twins?" she asked, looking them both over.

Sam and Dean both smiled widely. "Thank you." Dean said in a kind voice.

"For what?"

"You're the first motel in a long time to offer us twins. The rest assume we're a couple."

"You look like brothers to me." She walked to the computer on the counter and started clicking.

"We are."

"How long you want the room?" She couldn't have sounded any more bored.

Dean looked at Sam, who just shrugged. He faced the woman again. "Can we pay day-to-day?"

"That's fine. We're usually not too busy. Not since the Best-Western went up down the street." She typed away at the keyboard. "Here ya' go." She handed Dean a key. Dean looked at it. It was an actual key. Not a card to swipe. But an actual key. He looked back at Sam and smiled again. Sam just shrugged. "Room number 3."

"Thank you very much." Sam said as he followed Dean down the hall.

The room was as run down as the rest of the motel. They both plopped their bags on the ground and sat on the beds, silently claiming the one they wanted. Looking over the room, they both smirked. It was as tacky as any other they had been in. The walls were wallpaper-covered. Fish and hooks going up and down the wall. The chandelier in the center of the room looked like two anchors put together with light fixtures attached. The paintings on the wall were of the docks and of sailboats on the lake.

"Now what?" Dean asked.

"Research?" Sam asked. Dean shrugged in agreement. It was too late to go out and accomplish much. The drive hadn't taken all day, but enough of the day. Now it was already evening.

"Can we study while we eat?" Dean asked, his stomach growling.

Sam rolled his eyes. "Sure. Let's find some restaurant somewhere."


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

The diner wasn't anything to write home about. The food was fine. The atmosphere was exactly what they expected from a harbor-side restaurant. The decor was all sailing and fishing paraphernalia. Dean and Sam sat at a table next to the large window facing the main street. There wasn't a ton of traffic through town. The Impala sat, parallel parked across the street, right where Dean could keep an eye on her.

Dean devoured his cheeseburger just like he always did. Sam watched him. It was like watching a caveman eat who had just discovered food for the first time. He shoved over-sized bites into his mouth and chewed, struggling to keep all the greasy meat and burger-bun within the confines of his pie-hole. His cheeks were exploding outward with each chew like a squirrel eating in preparation for winter.

Sam took a few bites of his grilled cheese sandwich, but then put it down. Dean looked at him in shock. "You're not going to finish that?" He asked through stuffed cheeks. Sam looked at him, his brows furrowed, and shook his head. He knew that he was the only person on this earth that could so easily understand Dean when he talked with food in his mouth. He had a lot of practice. Dean put his sandwich down. "You feeling okay?"

"I don't know." Sam said looking puzzled over himself. "I don't feel sick, but I'm super full. I just kinda' feel off." Sam looked at Dean. "I know that doesn't make any sense."

"Don't hurl on me." Dean smirked. "Mind if I finish it?" He was reaching across the table before Sam even answered.

"Go for it." Sam watched as Dean began shoving the grilled cheese into his hungry maw. If they weren't related, Sam wasn't sure he could handle watching this as frequently as he had to. As he watched, he couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong with him. He just wasn't sure what. "I'll be right back." Sam got up quickly and headed to the restroom. He didn't really feel like he had to throw-up or anything, but something was definitely off.

The restroom was small. There was one stall, one urinal, and one sink with a mirror. There was barely enough room for two men to walk around each other. Sam hoped that no one else would join him.

He approached the mirror and looked at himself. He was surprised by what he saw. Studying his own face, he found he didn't look sick at all. In fact, he looked incredibly healthy. His skin seemed vibrant and youthful. His eyes weren't bloodshot or tired looking at all. So why was he feeling so off?

The door flung open and Dean walked in looking concerned. "Sammy?"

Sam rolled his eyes. "I'm a big boy, Dean. I can take care of myself. I don't need you looking over me all the time like some mother-hen."

Dean looked hurt for just a second, but then got defensive. "Fine. Don't say I never do anything for you." He turned to leave the bathroom.

Sam sighed. "Wait." Dean stopped and turned around. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have snapped at you." Dean walked up to the mirror beside Sam. The room was so cramped they were standing next to each other, shoulders pressed against one another's.

"Are you sure you're okay? It's not something you ate?" Dean asked. "Cuz I ate the same thing as you and I feel fine."

"Yeah, I just feel kinda' funny. It's like-" Sam paused and looked at the mirror closely. Then he turned to his brother. "The hell?"

"What?" Dean asked, totally confused. Sam just stared at him like he had grown a third eye. "Do I have cheese on my face or something?" Dean wiped his face with his hand. It was clean.

"No, you don't see?"

"See what?" Dean had no idea what Sam was talking about. He looked at Sam with concerned eyes.

"We're standing eye-to-eye." Sam said.

"That's usually what you do when you talk to someone, Sammy. It's called good manners."

Sam rolled his eyes. "No. I mean, literally. We are standing eye-to-eye." Dean didn't say anything. "Dean, we haven't been the same height since I was in high school."

Dean's eyes went wide. "Are you shrinking?"

"I don't know..." Sam's voice trailed off. "I hope not." Sam's features deflated. _Am I really shrinking? Is there some other explanation? People don't just shrink._ Dean noticed Sammy's hopeless expression and gave him a nudge in the side.

"Stop it. Don't get all worried." He looked at Sammy with a determined face. "We'll figure this out. We always do. You just need to relax and we can figure this out together."

Sammy looked at Dean with unbelieving eyes. _How are we going to figure this out? How is Dean so optimistic?_ _Probably because he's not the one shrinking..._ Sam thought with a hint of anger. He opened his mouth to let Dean know just how stupid his optimism was, but was shut up before any noise actually came out, as Dean pulled him in for a hug. Sam pushed away. He was getting tired of Dean always trying to coddle him like he was some kid. "Stop it. Just stop it!" His voice was harsher than he intended. Dean startled back, unsure of how to react to Sam's outburst. "I'm sick of you treating me like some kid. I'm not your baby brother anymore. I'm a grown man. I don't need you telling me what to do."

"Sorry?" Dean apologized, unsure of what was causing Sam's angry explosion. "I didn't mean to-"

"Yeah, you never _mean to_ , but yet you always act like you know what's best for me better than I know what's best for me."

"Well, given the whole Ruby and demon's blood stuff. Considering that the angels themselves have told me what you're doing is evil, no matter what your intentions are, yeah, I think I might know better."

"And the angels are such good and reliable sources?" Sam growled.

"They happen to be right about this one." Dean said, putting his hands up in the air gesturing he didn't know what else to say.

Sam sighed heavily. "I know what I'm doing." He started to march out of the bathroom, but turned to face Dean. "Just, let me make my own choices. I'm getting tired of your judgments." Dean didn't say anything. He simply placed his hands in the air in surrender. He would let Sammy win this one. He was clearly worked up over his mysterious shrinking. With that, Sam marched out of the diner, Dean following him after paying.

Nothing but silence and frustration lingered between the brothers the entire way back to the motel. Thankfully, for Dean, it was a short drive. The moment they walked into their room, research was forgotten, and Sam was getting ready to crawl into bed, clearly still angry with Dean.

Dean watched as Sammy stripped down to his underwear, almost tripping over his now too-long-on-him jeans. He wished Sam would talk to him, but at the same time he was getting tired of his whiny attitude. Dean wasn't sure how much longer he could handle traveling with Sam. He'd told Sam a hundred times, and then some, that Ruby was no good. Demon's blood was poison to him. That what he was doing with her couldn't end in the fairytale ending Sammy was thinking it would. Demons were never good news. That was just a fact, sadly, one that Sam was choosing to ignore. Dean wasn't sure he had the patience to watch Sammy willingly go down the road to Hell anymore.

"Good night." Dean finally whispered to Sammy and shut the lights off. Sam never spoke. Dean watched him for a while as he lay in the dark drifting into sleep. He never noticed the small pair of eyes watching through the motel window. It wasn't long before Dean huffed, trying to vent out his concern and frustration, and then went to bed himself. _Maybe it'll all be better tomorrow._ Dean laughed in his mind. _Yeah, right..._


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Chandler sat up in his bed. He hated sleeping alone. He missed when he got to sleep with his big brother, Tommy. Just a week ago his mother had said that he was too old to sleep with his brother. He had just celebrated his eighth birthday, and apparently eight-year-olds were far too old to share a bed.

Despite being eight, Chandler felt just as scared of the dark as he always had been. He knew that there had to be something wicked out there in the dark; otherwise no one would be afraid of it. It made sense to him. He rolled onto his side and looked at his nightstand. There was a flashlight on it and a digital clock that read 11:09. The red flare of light it projected made his eyes hurt a bit from being so used to the dark.

11:10. He hated watching the clock count the minutes, but he couldn't sleep. He was too scared. He hated the dark. He watched with terror as headlights shone through the window as a car passed by, casting scary shadows across the room as it zipped by. Even with the curtains closed, the scary lights from outside couldn't be blocked out entirely.

He stayed still in bed, imagining a similar light coming through the window, but this time it would be a burglar. Maybe a murderer. Who could tell? Either way, it wouldn't be good. He wished so badly that he lived in a two-story house. He hated the idea of people just climbing into his window from the front yard.

He shot up in bed when he heard the flimsy closet door across the room rattle a bit. His eyes stared at it, wide and on red alert for any kind of movement.

Nothing.

He looked at the door to the hallway. It was closed with no light shining under the crack. His parents must have already gone to bed. The door rattled again, and this time he could have sworn he heard giggling.

Chandler reached for his flashlight but couldn't find it without tearing his eyes away from the closet. Finally his hand came into contact with it, but knocked it off the nightstand and onto the floor. He heard it clatter to the floor, sounding miles down from where he was in bed. Tears began forming in his eyes.

He looked quickly at his nightstand just to make sure it really did fall. The digital clock glared into his eyes. 11:11. With a heavy sigh, and as much courage as he could muster, he quickly reached down from his bed, grabbed the flashlight, and brought it back up to stare at the closet door.

His mouth dropped open. The closet door was wide open. He turned the light on and shined it into the gaping maw of darkness. There was nothing in the closet. It looked like it always did. He held his breath, waiting for something to happen.

Giggling.

Chandler gasped. It was coming from under his bed. He pulled the sheets up to his neck. He sat frozen with the flashlight shining across the room into the closet. What could he do? He tried to scream, but nothing except weak sobbing came out.

Giggling and skittering on the wooden floor.

Something was moving under his bed. Chandler took a deep breath and gathered all the courage he could. He decided, he was going to count to three in his head, and then run with all his might to the door. His parents could save him.

1...

2...

3!

He threw the blankets off and jumped from the bed onto the cold, hard wooden floor. He moved his legs as quickly as he could to the door. He reached his hand out for the doorknob, but just before his fingers latched onto it he was pulled down to the floor. In the fall, the flashlight hit the floor hard and broke. Chandler looked back to see whatever it was that was pulling him by his legs, but it was too dark. His eyes had readjusted to the flashlight's brightness.

He could feel something little grabbing at his legs. His eyes finally adjusted to the darkness and he got a good look at what was with him. His eyes went wide and whatever it was that had been locking up his voice broke. He screamed at the top of his lungs. It echoed shrilly throughout the house.

Chandler's parents awoke in a panic, darting from their room toward their youngest son's. His father threw the door open, ready for a fight. There was nothing there. The bed's blankets and sheets were strewn across the floor. A flashlight was lying broken on the floor, the clock was hanging by its cord over the edge of the nightstand, and the closet door was wide open. Other than that, everything in the room looked normal, except the fact that Chandler was nowhere to be found.

"CHANDLER!" His mother screamed. No answer. She ran to the phone and dialed 9-1-1. She didn't want to believe it. These things only happened to other people. There was no way it could be true. Slowly, reality filtered into her brain. This was real. Chandler had been kidnapped.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Dean woke up feeling more rested than he thought he would. He looked at the clock. It read 10:00 a.m. He shook his head in disbelief. He couldn't remember the last time he slept in so late. He looked over to the other bed. It was empty. Just a large lump of sheets tangled up on the bed, which was odd to Dean. Sammy almost always made his bed. Either way, Sam must have already gotten up. Dean decided he wanted a lazy morning. Hell, he'd already woken up hours later than he usually did. He'd make the beds after he showered.

He rolled out of bed and placed his bare feet on the dirty carpet. He peeked at the bathroom. The door was open and it was empty. He looked out the window and saw the Impala. He hadn't taken the car anywhere. _Maybe he went on a walk. It is a cute town to stroll through. He's weird like that._

He was actually kind of glad that Sammy wasn't around. He needed a break from the kid. He was getting so sick of telling Sam right from wrong, just to have Sam throw it back in his face. It was like morals just didn't matter anymore. It was too strange for Dean. It was like their roles had been reversed. Traditionally, Dean was the rebel, the one who forsook the rules of morals to enjoy himself. Sammy was the one who always scolded Dean for his loose lifestyle. Now Sammy just didn't seem to care about good from bad at all. He was focused on revenge, though he would blanket the whole thing by saying that he was only doing what he was doing to save lives.

Brushing the thoughts of Sam aside, Dean slid his boxer-briefs off and jumped into the shower. He left the door cracked so he could hear when Sammy got back. He spent several wonderful minutes just letting the hot water run down his skin. _There's nothing better than a hot shower._ He relaxed under the warmth.

Dean ran through various scenarios in his head of how his next conversation with Sam would go. Despite it all being in his head, with the openness to let his imagination make the conversations go however he wanted them to, the realistic part of his brain still had each scenario ending with a fight. Dean wiped the hot water from his face and stared down at his feet. Why did being a brother have to be so difficult sometimes? If Sam would just do what Dean told him to they wouldn't have these problems. Little brothers…

The door flew open, hitting the wall hard, and Dean nearly fell on his face as the shower curtain was pulled open quickly and a gust of cold air attacked him. "What the...?!" Dean hollered as he looked to see who was invading his much needed relaxation and privacy. Dean knew who he was looking at, but it wasn't possible.

Standing before Dean, just as naked as he was under the shower, was Sammy. But this wasn't the Sammy it was supposed to be. Dean stared, bewildered, as he was blasted back to the past. Before him was Sammy, but he looked like he did when he was five years old.

"Dean!" Sammy shouted, his voice several octaves higher than Dean was used to. He stood frozen, still in shock. "Dean!" The kid shouted again. "What's going on?" The kid looked just as frightened as Dean was, maybe even more so.

Dean stood under the hot water feeling as if he was frozen to the bone, unable to move. He was taking in all that was happening. This was impossible. Dean stared at the kid he had helped Dad potty-train. The kid he shoplifted candy bars for. He looked at the small child, the miniature version of his brother and couldn't believe it. There was no way that was Sammy. But, despite his mental protests, no matter how hard he willed it not to be true. He knew exactly who was standing in front of him, but yet his disbelief begged him to ask the stupid question. "Sammy?" He asked, already knowing it was.

"I just woke up like this." Sammy said, sounding like he was about to cry. "I don't know what happened. Somehow I'm a kid again."

Dean nodded his head slowly. "Yeah..." His voice was slow and confused sounding. "I can see that. I can see the whole you." He gestured toward Sammy, emphasizing his nakedness.

"None of my clothes fit now!" Sammy said, sounding like he was on the verge of panicking. "You're naked too!"

"I'm in the shower, dude! What did you expect when you came barging in?"

"What do we do?" Tears were forming in Sam's eyes.

"Well, we certainly don't cry about it." Dean said, looking at Sammy without a clue as what to do. He thought back to when Sammy and he were kids. Sammy was always crying. He'd cry every night because Dad was gone. He'd cry because it was dark. He'd cry because he didn't want to go to sleep. He cried and cried. Dean prayed that this Sammy wouldn't. He prayed that somehow the new pocket-sized brother he had was different than the one he always had. He wasn't ready or equipped anymore to take care of a little brat! Dean was 29 years old. He wasn't little Sammy's big brother anymore.

"I can't help it." Sam sniffled. "I don't know what to do."

Dean turned the shower off. No matter how much he wanted to convince himself of what he had thought was true, that he wasn't little Sammy's big brother anymore. He knew it was a lie. He was little Sammy's big brother. He always had been, and he always would be. Now he was just Sammy's _really_ big brother. "We'll figure this out. Like we always do." He stepped out of the shower, keeping his eyes on his little brother, who was now truly his little brother again. Dean couldn't get over the fact that the brother whom used to tower over him now stood at his waist. He looked more like his son than he did his younger brother.

Sammy's child eyes scanned Dean's body up and down. It made Dean uncomfortable, but he couldn't blame Sam. He had already scanned Sammy the same way, nearly unable to comprehend the fact that his brother was now in the pre-pubescent body of a five-year-old boy. Everything about him was so smooth. So hairless. So small. Part of him wanted to tease the kid for it, but the other part of him, the part of him that had Dad's voice echoing through his head stopped him. _Take care of Sammy._ Dean sighed. Those words had been so much to him throughout his life. They were practically the mantra he lived his whole life by. They haunted him every single day. But at the same time, they were a joy to him. No, he couldn't tease Sammy. Not now, at least. The kid was practically about to go nuclear, showering tears across the entire land of the motel room like nuclear radiation. That was the last thing Dean needed.

He grabbed a towel and handed it to Sammy. "Here." He stood in front of Sammy for a moment, feeling a little awkward, as Sammy continued to stare at him, taking in the fact that Dean was a grown-ass man and he was just a boy again. "Weird, huh?" Dean asked, letting Sammy adjust to the situation. "You done staring?" Dean said with an awkward smirk. The words practically yanked Sammy back into the real world from wherever he was as he stared at Dean. His cheeks flushed red from embarrassment.

"Sorry, Dean." He looked at the floor very intentionally. "I didn't mean to be staring. It's just…" He wasn't sure exactly why he was staring. "You're so big, and I'm so…"

"Small?" Dean asked quietly. "You'll be bigger than me again in no time."

Sammy didn't even seem to have heard him. He just stared back up at Dean. "I only stand at your waist." Sammy looked way up to Dean's eyes. "You know how awkward this is for me?"

"You and me both." Dean agreed. He took a towel himself and dried off a bit before wrapping it around his own waist. "Come on." They walked out to the bedroom and Dean sat on the edge of his bed. Sam tried to sit next to him, but couldn't get up. He was too short. Dean watched without moving. He couldn't wrap his head around what he was seeing. His brother, who was in his twenties, couldn't climb up on the bed.

"A little help?" Came the high-pitched voice Dean still wasn't ready to attribute to his brother. Sammy flicked Dean on his huge knee, startling him back to his senses.

"Right, sorry." Dean lifted Sammy like the five-year-old he now was. He couldn't believe how light he was. He was nothing like the giant of a brother he used to be. Dean remembered wrestling with Sammy when they were kids. He was light back then, but since the age and size difference wasn't so exaggerated, he still amounted to something. He recalled fighting with Sam back with the siren. Then, Sam was practically a freight train. He shook his head in disbelief. This wasn't like either of those times. This was something entirely new. This was foreign territory for both Sammy and himself. Now Sam weighed what seemed to be the equivalent to nothing. Dean didn't even struggle a bit.

He set him next to him on the bed and stared as Sammy nuzzled against his arm. Dean couldn't figure out what was going on. Sammy hadn't nuzzled against his arm since he was... well, since he was like five years old. This was all too unreal for Dean. From instinct, he wrapped his arm around Sam and pulled him in. "We're going to figure this out. Don't worry, Sammy."

"Yeah, but what if we can't." Sammy sounded desperate.

"We will." Dean assured him.

"What if they get me?"

"Who?" Dean asked, looking down at his kid brother. He looked so small and fragile. He had a hard time believing that at one point in time they were both small like that. _How could Dad have ever felt comfortable leaving us alone in those motel rooms while he hunted?_

"Whatever creature is kidnapping all the kids from their beds." Sam looked like he was going to cry. "What if they come get me?"

"They won't."

"How can you know that?" Sammy's teary eyes pleaded at Dean.

"Because I'm here." Dean patted his hand on Sammy's towel-covered thigh. "I'm not going to let anything happen to you." Dean gave Sammy's thigh an endearing squeeze. "Have I ever let anything happen to you?"

Sammy spoke hesitantly. "No. But I'm scared."

"I know you are. But you don't need to be." Dean spoke gently, but sternly. Each word acting as a safety rail next to a large cliff. Each fear Sammy uttered aloud brought him closer to falling from the safe ground into the pit of despair. Winchesters didn't give up, usually. But when they did, it was rough. Dean was determined to keep Sammy from tumbling into that pit. Dean had been there himself. For that matter, it may have been fair to say he was there at that very moment, the only hope he had being the lifeline his little brother was. Whether Sammy knew it or not, he was what kept Dean anchored to his own life. He was what gave purpose to his life. _Take care of Sammy._

Dean stood up and threw his towel on the floor. He rummaged through his duffel bag until he found some clean clothes. He pulled all his clothes on and looked back at Sammy. He couldn't leave him naked in a towel, but they definitely didn't have any clothes that would fit him.

He rummaged through his clothes. All of them were dirty. He found the shirt that always fit him the tightest, a white undershirt. The armpits were stained from sweat and it kinda' smelled, but it would have to do. He handed it to Sam. "Here. So you don't have to run around in an over-sized towel."

"So I'm gonna' run around in an over-sized shirt? Like it's some dress? Seriously, Dean?"

"Just until I can buy you some kid clothes." Dean apologized for the shitty situation, even though it wasn't really his fault. If Sammy had his way, Dean would be gone and Sam would be dealing with all this on his own. Dean shook his head. _Not really... He'd probably just call Ruby to come solve his problems for him._

Sam pulled off his towel and traded it to Dean for his undershirt. He pulled it over his head. It looked like a nightgown on him. His shoulders were so scrawny the neck-hole was nearly large enough that the shirt could just slide off of him if he stood straight. He smelled the shirt and cringed. "It smells like your B.O."

Dean smirked. "Lucky. I've been planning on making a cologne out of my aroma. Musk of Dean." Dean said in his best deep, sexy voice, with a hint of a French accent. "They'd make one of those over-the-top sexy commercials with the half-naked men to advertise it."

Sammy stared at Dean, almost dumbfounded. "Right..." Sam shook his head. "Can you please just hurry and get me some clothes."

"Geez, dude." Dean said, almost floored by how ungrateful Sam seemed. _What happened to the little arm-nuzzling brother I had just minutes ago?_ "I'll hurry. Keep your pants on." He smirked. "Oh, wait... You're not wearing any." He laughed.

Sam looked at Dean entirely un-amused. "Very funny..."

"It was a little funny."

"Clothes?" Sam didn't sound interested in joking around.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm going." Dean put his boots on and headed for the door. "You gonna' be alright with me gone?"

Sam sighed. "Dean, I'm not a..." His voice trailed off. "Yes, I'll be fine."

"How do you feel?" Dean asked, looking concerned.

"Fine, besides being small and weak." Sam answered, not sure what Dean's point was.

"You don't feel like you're shrinking or anything? I'm not going to get back and have an infant to try to breast feed, will I? You might enjoy it, but I have no interest in you trying to suck my nipple." Dean smirked again. Sam seemed to ignore the comment entirely.

"No. Do I look like I'm shrinking?" Sam asked, looking at himself with a bit of panic in his eyes. Dean sighed, so much for humor lightening the situation.

"No, that's not it." Dean said with a small chuckle as he watched his very little brother examine himself in a hurry. "I'm just trying to figure out what we're dealing with."

"I think I'm fine, other than the obvious."

"Okay. It's just you were acting like a real little kid earlier. Now you seem to be acting like an adult in a kid's body." Dean explained.

"I wasn't acting like a kid." Sam argued, sounding irritated. "I'm fine."

"So I can leave you to do some research while I shop?" Dean asked.

"Yes. I'll do some research."

"But don't leave the motel." Dean ordered. He practically kicked himself for what he was saying. He sounded just like Dad. He had always forced both boys to lock themselves in the motel room for days straight without ever leaving. It was like torture. Dean understood why Dad had done it, but it didn't really make it feel any better. And here he was, determined to be nothing like Dad, but doing everything just like him.

Sam sighed. "Yes, Dad." Those words hit Dean like a punch to the gut from a FFC fighter. "I won't leave the motel." Sam glared at his older brother. "Are you going?"

"Yeah, yeah. I'm going." Dean opened the door.

"And don't get me any stupid looking clothes! I'm not really a kid!"

"You look like one to me." Dean smirked as he closed the door. Sam huffed. As he watched the Impala pull away from the motel, he made his way over to the table where his laptop was. He sighed frustrated. Everything felt so giant now. His laptop seemed like it was miles off the ground, but it was really just sitting on top of the dinner table. He had to use both hands and both legs to try to climb onto the tall chair that sat at the table just so he could access his laptop.

Fortunately he still seemed to retain all his adult mental capacities. Research was still something he could do without any more trouble than he would normally have. Once he had hooked onto the wireless internet, he was on his way to figuring out what was terrorizing this town, and hopefully what had reduced him back to his five-year-old self. There better be a fix for this...


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

Dean pulled up to the local retail store. He cringed. This was not a regular stop for the Winchesters. He had heard so many horror stories about the people one could find in a big store like this. Sam had even once told him there was a website about it. Despite that, he knew the shopping around Port Washington was limited, so his best chance for finding kid clothes was here.

He made his way into the store and bee-lined for the clothing section. It was so awkward. He'd never cared for a kid since he was a kid himself, taking care of little Sammy. Now he was shopping for Sammy like he was his son.

Perusing the clothing, he found the section labeled 5-8 years old. Looking the clothes over, Dean was pretty sure that they would fit. He grabbed some shirts, pants, underwear, socks, and shoes. He looked at the pile of clothes in his kart and hoped he wasn't forgetting anything.

After he had paid, he headed toward the store exit. Dean noticed a cop standing by the exit door who was eyeing him shamelessly. As Dean approached him he held his hand up. "What's in the kart?"

Dean stopped, looking puzzled. "Just some clothes, officer."

"I can see that." The cop said as he browsed through Dean's bag. "Who are they for?"

Dean eyed the cop suspiciously. The badge looked legitimate. The man seemed like the real deal. He was an average height, average weight guy. He wasn't anything special. _What's he getting at?_ Finally, Dean decided to be plain with him. "What's this all about? Surely you don't question everyone that shops here."

The cop cleared his throat. "I'm sure you've heard of all the kidnappings recently?" The statement came out more like a question. Dean nodded. "I'm not suggesting you're a criminal, but I have to say..." His voice got more authoritative as he looked Dean in the eyes. "I've never seen you around before, and I'm a local. That means you're probably not."

"No, I'm just here for a visit." Dean said.

"It's not every day that a young man like yourself comes in here and buys a kart-full of children's clothing." He gestured toward the messy pile of young boys' clothes. "I hate to say this, but it is a bit suspicious."

Dean rolled his eyes. "I suppose it could be, but it's not."

"Who are they for?"

"My little brother." Dean said, mentally kicking himself for not telling an actual lie.

"How old is your brother? You look like you're almost thirty."

"I am. My brother's five years old."

"Your parents had a kid over 20 years after you?"

Dean shrugged. "If you ask me, he was an accident." He smirked at the cop. "But, he's my little brother and we're on a road trip together, but I've never had kids and I forgot to pack enough clothes for him. So here I am, buying enough to get him through the trip."

"Is that so?" The cop sounded like he was buying it.

"Yeah, we're from Kansas." Dean added details to make it all sound true.

"Why didn't your parents take him on the trip?"

"Well, if you must know, they both..." Dean trailed off. "Neither are alive anymore."

"I'm sorry. I hate to get so personal. I just wanna' make sure the kids around here are safe."

"It's no problem. Mom died soon after my bro was born. After Dad died, it fell on me to take care of him, and we decided we needed a little vacation. We heard how quiet and scenic this town is, so here we are."

"Well, just take my investigation as a warning, then. There have been kidnappings recently. Mostly kids. A couple adults. So watch your brother carefully." The cop looked at Dean suspiciously again. "Where is he anyway?"

Dean's eyes almost betrayed him. For a split second panic and uncertainty shot through his eyes, unsure of a lie that didn't sound like he was totally neglectful of a five-year-old kid. He didn't have an excuse. "He's at the hotel." What other lie could he say that would have sounded any better? "I told him I was just going to be gone like five minutes. Lock the door and don't open for anyone. He's got my cell number too."

"I'm sure he's fine, but my advice to you is to hurry home and don't leave a five-year-old alone again." The cop sounded like a father giving advice. "Especially now that you know what's been goin' on around here."

"Will do. Thank you, officer. May I be on my way? You got me a little worried now." Dean laughed nervously.

"Yessir, hurry back to the kid. I'm sure he's fine, by the way. Sorry for scaring you."

"Don't apologize. I'm glad you warned me." Dean turned to leave, but then looked back at the officer. "Have they been occurring close to here?"

"Unfortunately, yes. Some were right in this small neighborhood across the street." He pointed out the store's front doors.

"Yikes." Dean looked at the officer as if he was scared to hear that. "I better get back to the hotel then. Thank you."


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Sam about fell out of his chair when the motel door opened abruptly. He had been so enthralled in his drawings and music that he hadn't even noticed the Impala park outside the room's window. He looked up as Dean stood in the doorway staring at him.

"What?" Sam asked, unsure of why Dean was staring.

"Kid's Bop?" Dean asked. There was no mistake for the trashy, sex-filled pop songs being re-mastered using the voices of prepubescent tweens.

Sam smiled a bit. He hadn't even really considered why he was listening to it. It just sounded good to him. It was fun. "I was getting bored sitting and watching T.V. It's lonely when you're not around."

Dean couldn't believe what he was hearing. He decided to ignore that fact that Sam was supposed to be doing research and address the point that nearly knocked him off his feet. "Lonely?" He shut the door behind him and set the bags of clothing down on Sam's bed. "Since when have you gotten lonely when I'm gone? Usually you're practically jumping at the opportunity to get some alone time. Hell, just yesterday you were yelling at me to leave you alone. To stop hunting so you could fly solo."

Sam remembered that conversation in the bathroom. For some reason, it all seemed like it happened ages ago. Now Sam couldn't think of anything he wanted more than to have his big brother around with him. His eyes grew teary, which didn't go unnoticed by Dean. "I'm sorry." His high-pitched boy voice was still so foreign to him he almost didn't recognize himself speaking. "I really do want you around." Sammy held his arms up to Dean like he used to do to their Dad when he wanted to be picked up.

Dean stared at Sammy for a second. What was happening? Sammy was an adult in a kid's body, right? But now he seemed to be acting shamelessly like a kid. He reached down and picked the small kid up, resting him on his hip. Sammy wrapped his arms around Dean's neck and locked his legs around his back, just like he used to with Dad. Dean looked at the small child in his over-sized, dirty undershirt and couldn't help but accept the apology, even though somehow, in the back of his head, he knew this was the new kiddie Sammy talking. As soon as he had his adult brother back, Dean was sure he'd be having the same fights over and over again, just like they always did. "Well, I'm around. So don't get all chick-flick moment with me."

"Yuck." Sam said scrunching his face up.

"No kidding. I hate emotional crap too."

"No, I mean yuck to the chicks."

"Yuck to chicks?" Dean asked, looking at his brother with concern.

"They're gross, and I'm pretty sure they have coodies." Sam said matter-of-factly.

"Coodies?" Dean asked, his voice not even masking a bit of his surprise at what his brother was saying. Sammy hadn't believed in coodies for years. He wouldn't even let Dean joke about girls having coodies. When he was probably around eight years old, Sammy had taken an interest in studying and science. He learned very quickly that coodies were fake and he didn't skip a beat in relaying that information to Dean like a hundred times. It got to the point Dean lost interest in teasing Sam about coodies because the know-it-all kid took all the fun out of it. "Are you feeling alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Sam said grinning like only a kid can. "I drew you a picture."

Dean smiled. It amazed him how a child's mind could jump from one subject to another with no apparent springboard. "I hope it's cool and not My Little Unicorns, or whatever."

"It's My Little _Pony_ , Dean. And yes, it's cool." His little voice was firm and insistent. It was adorable. Dean had to bite his tongue to keep from laughing, or worse, making that annoying _"Awww"_ that the "live-audience" always made in a sitcom when two people kissed.

"Good." Dean sighed with a roll of his eyes. He went over and sat at the foot of Sammy's bed, resting Sammy on his lap, looking face-to-face. "Whatcha' got?"

Sammy handed him a small piece of paper that he had torn off of the small notepad from the motel's end-table. It was drawn in pen. "It's you. That's me. And there's the monster." Dean looked at it. Dean was tall. Really tall. Like giant tall. Sam and the monster barely stood to his shins. And his arms were huge.

"I'm really big." Dean said, looking at Sammy to figure out exactly what he was thinking. "I'm not that big."

"Yes you are. You're _really_ big." His voice putting an exaggerated emphasis on the word. "And strong too." He added it like he was correcting Dean with factual evidence. Dean continued to look at the picture. It looked like Sammy, Dean, and the weird monster were all holding hands.

"Are we holding hands?" Dean asked.

"Yeah, because you love me."

Dean's lips quivered at that simple statement. A flood of emotion ran through him as he looked affectionately at his little brother. He could think of nothing at the moment that could have brought him more joy than to hear his little brother say that. "Yes, I do." His voice was shaky. "Do you love me?"

"I love you this much." Sammy said, spreading his arms out as wide as he could.

Dean's heart melted. He hadn't been told that in far too long. He could feel tears forming in his eyes and quickly blinked them away. "Who is the monster?" He cleared his throat, trying to force the emotional shakes from his voice. "Why are we holding his hand?"

"It's not a boy, Dean." Sammy whined. "It's a girl. I named her Ruby."

Dean's teary eyes quickly dried at those words. "Why did you name her Ruby?"

"I don't know. Just seemed like a good name."

"And we're holding her hand because we love her too?"

"Yeah. We're all gonna' be friends."

"Oh." Dean said, a different kind of tears filling his eyes. "Good." He wiped his hand over his distraught face. "Good." The words were empty.

"Oh, do you want to hear what I found in my research?" Sammy asked.

Dean looked at Sammy. _Great, he's acting like an adult again._ "Whatcha' got?" He focused on the little man sitting on his lap and couldn't help but find the whole situation a little humorous. He was about to get lectured about things that most people didn't understand by the five-year-old sitting, wearing nothing but an over-sized, sweaty undershirt. This was the kinda' stuff they made terrible comedy movies from.

"Turns out there have been a total of eight children taken and two adults. All from around there."

"What ages?"

"Anywhere from..." Sammy's voice trailed off as he scrolled through all the information he had locked into his head. "four years old... to... eight."

"So all young." Dean said, mostly to himself.

"Except the adults."

"Obviously." Dean looked at Sam. Worry spread through every bone in his body. If these things were hunting children, there was no chance that Sam's being a kid again was just a coincidence. Whatever had turned him into a kid was very likely the same thing that was terrorizing Port Washington. He knew he couldn't let Sammy out of his sights then. The fact that the kid offered no discomfort to his lap while sitting on it just reinforced Dean's sense of needing to protect the kid. He was so light. So tiny. So _defenseless_. "Any idea why?"

"Not a clue, but they all described similar events in regards to the kidnapping. At least, according to the reports. We'll want to meet with them."

"Any chance we're just dealing with a sick person stealing other people's children?" Dean asked.

"That wouldn't explain why I'm a kid again. No, I think we're dealing with some sorta' monster. Plus, in every case of the children going missing, there were no signs of a break-in. All the windows were locked and intact, the doors were still shut, and the alarm systems never went off."

"Then how did the children go missing? They had to be taken out of the house somehow."

"I don't know. I say we go investigate the houses." Sammy suggested. "But more importantly, there's one person in particular we should talk to."

"Who?" Dean asked, quizzical eyes on his little brother.

"A kid named Tyler Barkley." Sammy stated. "He apparently had a run-in with the kidnapper, but managed to make it out."

"Why's he so lucky?" Dean asked.

"He says it's because his mom came in and turned the light on." Sammy took a deep breath. "She said she found her son lying on the floor in a panic, but there was no one else in the room. Everything looked normal."

"Do you think he really ran into whatever it is we're looking for?"

"I'm not sure. It's worth checking out, though."

Sam hopped off Dean's lap with much squirming, finally causing some discomfort to Dean, onto the motel's floor and tugged at Dean's pant leg. "What kinda' clothes did you get me?"

Dean shrugged. "Sorry if it all sucks. I've never shopped for kids before. I don't know what's cool and what's lame." He rustled through the bags, pulling out outfits he had bought for Sammy. "What do you think?"

Sam looked at the clothes. The jeans were normal blue jeans, but everything else was not. The underwear were tiny and had the Superman logo on them. His socks were plain, but in different bright colors. His shirts were all covered in cartoon characters and superheroes. The shoes were Star Wars. Sam looked at everything and back at Dean. He just shrugged to Sammy. "Sorry, I didn't know what else to get you. They had limited options. I know they're all kinda' lame."

Sam looked appalled. "Lame?" Dean shrunk a bit, waiting to be chewed out by his little brother. "Lame?" Sam's eyes lit up. "They're not lame! They're _awesome!_ " Sam got tangled up in Dean's over-sized shirt as he rushed to pull it off. Dean grabbed it and helped him pull it off. He threw it across the room and started handing Sammy his new clothes. He started with the Superman underwear, then the jeans, socks, and shirt.

"Do they fit?" Dean asked. Sammy nodded excitedly. "Good. Then hold still and I'll take the tags off." He knelt down so he was eye-level with Sammy. It threw Dean off a bit, having to kneel to be anywhere close to Sammy's height, though he was still taller than the kid. Sammy was a late bloomer and was short almost into high school. Dean figured at 5 years old Sammy was probably just barely taller than three feet.

He pulled the tags off and made sure Sammy looked put-together. He was a bit unsure of himself. _How much like a kid do I treat him and how much like an adult?_ The question didn't have an apparent answer. In some ways, Sammy was showing signs of remembering being an adult. In other ways, it was as if Sammy had reverted back to his five-year-old self entirely.

Once Sam and Dean were ready, they headed out to investigate the victims' homes and families. Dean hoped that it would pay off, because as things were, he had no idea what could be the culprit. Changelings didn't sneak in and out without leaving a trace. Other than ghosts, he wasn't sure what could travel into a home without opening a door, window, or setting off an alarm. Given their business, he knew that it could be any number of awful creatures they had never encountered before.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

Dean drove up to the first house on their list of houses to visit. This one wasn't the one Sammy was insistent that they visited, but they would get to that one. This one just happened to be the closest and the location of the most recent kidnapping.

They walked up to the old one-story house. It was brick and looked well cared for, despite its age. Dean knocked on the door. _I hope this plan works…_

The door opened and a woman stood in the doorway. She looked like she was on the verge of falling apart. Her hair was unkempt, her outfit was nothing more than sweats and a plain t-shirt, and her face looked tired. "Can I help you?" she asked.

"Actually, I was hoping I could help you." Dean started. He pulled out a badge that said Private Investigator on it. When Sammy saw the badge come out he smiled. Dean had gone over the whole plan with him, but the sight of the badge still made all the make-believing seem so cool!

The woman read it and began to tear up. "I appreciate it, but I can't afford a Private I."

"I'm not here for money, ma'am." Dean spoke each word with sympathy. "I'm just here to offer my help." He placed his hand on Sammy's shoulder. "Y'see, this is my little brother, Sammy. He's a friend of your son's. Chandler's disappearance, as I'm sure has been hard on you, has also been hard on my brother. He asked me if I could look into his mysterious disappearance, and if you're willing to let me, I'd love to help."

The woman let a couple tears fall from her eyes and nodded her head desperately. "Yes. Yes! We could use all the help we can get." She sounded like she was barely hanging on.

"I'm Dean, by the way. This is Sammy." He put both hands on Sammy's shoulders as the kid stood in front of him.

"Nice to meet you both. I'm Susan." She gestured them both into the house. "Please, make yourselves at home."

They both entered the house and took a seat on the woman's couch. She sat down opposite them on a love-seat. "I'm so happy to hear that Chandler has a friend that cares so much for him. His father and I always worried he didn't have friends because of how shy he is."

"We want to see him brought safely home." Dean smiled and placed a hand on Sammy's leg. "I do have to be honest with you, Susan." She straightened up. "I will do my best to find your son, but I can make no promises."

She nodded her understanding. "I know. But it does renew my hope to know that someone really cares and is willing to look." She cried a bit. "I will pay you however I can, but I just can't afford—"

"I told you, Susan. I'm not in this for money. I just want Chandler found and safe."

Susan bit her lower lip and tried to hold back her tears. She placed a hand on her heart and mouthed through trembling lips "Thank you." Dean smiled and nodded.

Dean readjusted himself on the couch and took on a more serious tone. "If you don't mind, I do have some questions for you." She nodded. He pulled out a pocket-sized notepad and prepared to take notes. "What can you tell me about the night that Chandler was taken?"

"Well, it was three nights ago." She began, each word coming out slowly and with much difficulty. "We had put him to bed, just like any other night. Well, Kind of."

"Kind of?" Sammy asked. Dean looked at him, like he had spoken out of place. He wasn't sure how Susan would take to being interviewed by a five-year-old. She didn't seem to mind.

"Well, I'm probably going to embarrass him in front of his friend…" She smiled a little.

"Sammy can wait in another room if you'd like." Dean said.

"No, no. It's fine. Y'see, last week we separated Chandler from his older brother, Tommy. They used to share a room, and often a bed. Chandler has always been a scared kid. He hates the dark, spiders, strangers… I mean, you name it, he's probably scared of it. So he was less than enthusiastic about being put in his own room…alone."

"I can imagine." Dean said.

"I hate sleeping alone." Sammy chimed in. His eyes were big with concern as he sympathized with Chandler's fears. Susan smiled at Sammy. How couldn't she? He was the cutest thing on this earth Dean had ever known.

"So, every night since he got his own room turned into a fight here around bed time. Chandler never wanted to go to bed anymore because he was scared of being alone in his room."

"It must have been hard to watch him go through that every night, but it's a necessary evil. Kids have to learn at some point that the dark's not something to be afraid of." Dean spoke sympathetically.

"Except, there was reason for Chandler to be afraid. He was kidnapped." Susan cried. Dean offered her a tissue from the box on the coffee table between them. "Sorry."

"No need to apologize. I know what you're going through is tough."

"I finally got Chandler into bed and kissed him goodnight. I left a flashlight on the nightstand by his bed, just so he could use it to see that there was nothing in the dark to be afraid of." She trembled as tears dripped from her face. "I turned the lights off and closed the door. I didn't give a second thought to someone stealing him away." Her crying threatened to morph into full-on sobbing. Dean could tell guilt was gripping her.

"Why would you?" Dean asked. "None of this was your fault, Susan."

"But I had heard of the kidnappings going on. I should have been ready."

"You couldn't have known." Dean assured her.

"So, I went back to the living room and watched T.V. with my husband until we both got tired. We sent Tommy to bed, and then went to sleep ourselves." She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "The next thing I knew, I was waking up to Chandler screaming at the top of his lungs." She breathed heavily again. "Richard, my husband, and I both bolted out of bed and down the hall to Chandler's room. When we got there, it was empty."

"What did it all look like?" Dean asked.

"I turned the light on. The closet door was open. Chandler would never have opened that on his own. He was terrified of the closet when he was sleeping, even when he was in Tommy's room. The flashlight I left him was on the floor, broken. The bed was messed up and the alarm clock on the nightstand was hanging off, like someone had knocked it over. The windows were closed and still locked." She cried. "I ran down the hall and called 9-1-1."

"You mentioned he wouldn't have opened the closet door?" Dean asked.

"Yes. I think whoever stole him was hiding in the closet. But that doesn't answer how they got out of the house without opening any windows or doors, and without Richard or me seeing him."

"Got it, thank you." Dean put the notepad back into his jacket. "Do you mind if we take a look at the room?"

"Please do. It's just how we found it. Richard wouldn't let me clean it. He said it would be a crime scene."

"Smart man. We won't move anything around. We're not working with the police at the moment, so we'll leave it just like we found it so the police can still use it as evidence."

"Thank you." She stood up. "It's this way."

The room was as she had said it would be. The alarm clock was still hanging off the nightstand by its cord. The closet door was open. The flashlight was on the floor. The police had clearly been in the room as each piece of evidence was labeled by a small plastic placer that had a number on it.

"May I?" Dean asked, gesturing into the room.

"Please do."

Dean entered into the room and looked around closely. "Now, before Chandler went missing had you experienced anything strange in the house?"

"Strange how?" She asked, unsure of what he was getting at.

"Did you notice any cold spots in the house? Flickering lights? Maybe sounds, like rats in the walls or something?"

"No, not that I can think of. Everything was normal." She answered. "Why? Do you think the kidnapper had been hiding somehow in the house for a while or something?" Her face showed horror.

"No, no. It's nothing to worry about. I'm just covering all possibilities." Dean looked at the windows. No sulfur. No handprints or claw marks. They were clean and locked. "You didn't hear anything before Chandler screamed?"

"No. Nothing."

"Okay." Dean said, mostly to no one, as he inspected the closet. The clothes were all still nicely placed. Everything looked normal. He flicked the light on his cell phone on so he could get a clear look at the corners of the closet where the room's lights didn't reach well. Sammy came over to look around as well.

As the light moved over the walls, Sam noticed a glimmering in the corner. "What's that?" He asked loudly as he leaned deeper into the small closet to take a closer look.

"What is it?" Dean asked. Dean stood up straight and moved the light. Sam noticed the glimmering disappeared.

"Dean, you gotta' shine the light on it. Right there." Sam pointed at the corner.

"Why? There was nothing there." Dean asked, but shined the light regardless.

Sammy reached in and touched the sparkling something on the ground. "What is this?" He lifted his finger up. The sparkling material stuck to it. It looked like dust, but it was sparkling. "Do you know what this is, Dean?" Sammy's head was cocked to the side, like a puppy when it's confused.

Dean squatted down to check out the material on Sam's finger. He waited for Sam to explain exactly what he was supposed to be seeing. "There's nothing there, Sammy."

"What are you talking about? You don't see the gold stuff?"

Dean cleared his throat. "I don't see anything. Are you trying to pull my leg?"

Sammy looked like he was going to cry; like Dean was accusing him of being a liar. "No. There's a powder on my finger. It's golden." His voice was defensive and insistent. Dean brought his face really close to Sammy's finger, keeping the flashlight on his finger the whole time, but still saw nothing. "It's like golden snow. But it's not cold."

"What would there be gold snow in here for?" Dean asked with a confused expression. "And why can't I see it?"

"I dunno'." Sammy shrugged and looked at Dean with a matching confused expression. "And why could I only see it when you shined the light on it?" Dean took the flashlight and looked around the rest of the room. Sam followed the light across the room. Nothing. Dean shined it at the bed.

"Wait, shine it there." Sammy said, pointing his small finger toward the floor under the bed. Dean did as he was instructed. "There's something there."

"Yahtzee." Dean and Sam looked under the bed. Sure enough, there was a good portion of the golden dust spread around under the bed, but only Sam could see it.

Sam motioned for Dean to lean over. He lowered himself so Sammy could talk to him quietly so that Susan wouldn't hear. "There's more under the bed,"

"I figured so..." Dean said, nodding his head. "When you told me to shine the light under the bed."

"Okay." Sammy was smiling big. Dean couldn't believe it, but it seemed like he was having fun.

"Are you having fun?" Dean asked, unable to resist.

"Yeah, it's like Scooby Doo." Dean almost burst out in laughter, but needed to keep his composure in front of Susan.

"Jinkies." Dean said with a smile. He cleared his throat. "Our first clue." Dean whispered with a smile. "And for some reason only you can see it."

"Maybe I'm special."

"Maybe" Dean said as he tousled Sammy's hair and stood back up. He faced Susan. "I think we got all we need."

"You sure?" She asked, looking hopeful for some answers.

"Yeah. We'll be in-touch. We have some more research and investigating to do." He placed a hand on her shoulder. "I promise. I'll do all within my power to find Chandler."

"Thank you." She said. She wasn't sure why, but he seemed like he meant what he said. It brought a spark of hope to her pain-gripped heart.

Dean and Sammy made their way out of the house and took their seats in the Impala. Dean figured he'd never get used to Sammy sitting in the backseat. Somehow, it made driving lonely. He looked through the rear-view mirror and saw the top of Sammy's mop of a hairdo. "Good job, Sammy." They had a lead. Now they just needed to look into the other houses of the missing kids and see if they found anything else like the golden dust.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

Chandler woke up with an unrelenting pounding in his head and a stomach that threatened to expel everything in it. He was having a hard time remembering what he had been doing that would have made him so miserable. As his vision came back into focus he grew worried.

He was in a cage just barely big enough for him to stand up in. The entire thing looked like it was made out of gold. As he looked around his room, holding back the screams and tears that were begging to be let out, he could barely believe what he was seeing.

The room was mostly dark, save the light that various torches hanging on the wall were providing. The light danced and reflected off of piles and piles of what looked like gold, gems, and jewelry. Chandler had no idea where he was or why he was there.

As he scanned the room, he noticed other golden cages. Some of the cages had other kids in them. He looked at each cage. It looked like there were at least seven other children captured. But who had captured them?

The kid closest to Chandler was another boy. Chandler tried to get his attention. _Psst! Psst!_ The boy heard him and faced him. "You're awake?" The boy addressed him.

Chandler noticed the boy had a strange necklace of a lightning bolt. It looked like the lightning bolt in the _Power Rangers_ logo. He figured the kid must like the show more than he did himself. He refocused on the situation he was stuck in. "Yeah, but where are we?"

The boy shrugged. "I'm not sure. I've been here for a while, but there aren't any windows. I don't know how long."

"I'm Chandler."

"Jason." The boy introduced himself.

"How did we get here?" Chandler asked. "I can't remember anything."

"I didn't at first either, but it'll come back I think." Jason explained. "We were kidnapped."

"By who?" Chandler asked, and then quickly shut up as an awful voice could be heard echoing through the treasure-filled chamber they were in. Chandler looked at Jason who had his index finger over his pursed lips, instructing Chandler to remain quiet.

Chandler shut up and listened. There was more than one voice. As he remained still and quiet, he could see two shadows along the wall, but couldn't see the beings they belonged to. His eyes went wide. There were definitely two things, but it was pretty clear that they weren't human, or at least, one of them definitely wasn't.

He watched, nearly unable to believe what his eyes were trying to tell his brain. For some reason, his brain just couldn't believe it. One of the shadows looked like a fairy, but Chandler knew that fairies didn't actually exist. The shadow looked like a small woman with wings fluttering to keep her aloft.

The other looked like a short someone. He couldn't tell by the shadow if it was a man or a woman, but the weasel-like voice suggested it was a man. He listened in on the conversation they were having.

"All I want is the two hunters." The squeaky female voice said firmly.

"And why should I let you have them?"

"Because I made one of them into a kid." She huffed. "He's mine and I'm bringing him to Neverland."

"Then do it." The male voice said with little emotion.

"I can't. Not alone." She explained. "They murdered the rest of my clan. I only had enough power to get one of them with a hex. I need you to take care of the other."

"I have no use for adults." The weasel-voice said. "You know that, Mixy."

"But I'd owe you a favor." Mixy said. "And you know what my powers allow me to do once I'm recharged. That's a favor I know you want."

The male figure placed a hand on his chin and let out a moan, thinking. "How do I know you'll keep your promise?"

"It's not like I can run." Mixy explained. "You know I need to recharge my magic in order to return to Neverland. To do that I need the kid I marked."

"And this kid is the man you hexed?"

"Yes. He's now a kid again." She giggled a bit. "I'm going to get my revenge. And once I've done that, I'll keep my promise to you whenever you want it."

"I think we can be partners." His voice got serious. "But if you even try to wiggle out of your promise to me, my kin will hunt you down and you'll regret crossing me."

"You have my word." She said. "If you help me get my revenge so I can go home, I'll do whatever it is you want."

"Then it's a deal." They both giggled like cartoon villains, all-too-pleased with their new arrangement.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

Dean and Sam pulled up to Tyler Barkley's house. It was an old Victorian home. Every wall was white with black accents around the windows. It was gorgeous. It was the kind of house Sam had always dreamed of Jess and him living in.

They got out of the car and instantly hated life. The wind from the lake was so cold and cut right through them. Sammy didn't have a kid's coat, so he was wearing Dean's coat, while Dean Sammy's his adult coat. Dean's coat didn't fit, but it definitely came closer than his adult coat did. Plus, for some reason, Sammy just felt good in Dean's clothes. It made him feel more secure.

Sammy had goosebumps and his teeth were threatening to start chattering. Dean knelt down and tightened his coat around Sammy, trying to ensure his little brother was well cared for and as warm as possible, though in this weather, there wasn't much warmth to gain. The big brother held his hand out. Sammy placed his tiny hand within it and immediately felt the heat from Dean flow into his hand. He already felt a little better.

They approached the door and knocked. A hefty woman answered. She looked tough, like the motel manager. Her hair was straight and blonde and she wore jeans with a sweater. "Can I help you?" Her voice was deep, but kind.

"Well, I hope so." Dean showed her his badge.

"What does a private investigator want from me?"

"We're looking into the missing children around town. We heard that your son may have encountered the culprit?" Dean tried to sound kind and caring so she would trust him.

"Who's he?" She gestured toward Sammy, who had pulled his over-sized adult jacket tightly around himself and was hugging Dean's leg, pressing his cheek against Dean's rear and peering ever so slightly from around his human defense at the woman. "Shouldn't he be in school?"

"Oh, this is Sammy." He placed his hand on Sam's head and tousled his hair. "He's my little brother. I pulled him out of school today so he could see what my work is like."

"He looks freezing." She smiled at him. "Why don't you two come on in? It's cold out there, especially with that lake wind. It just blows right through you. Chills you to the bones." Dean looked down at Sam. He knew the lady wasn't joking, the kid looked like his bones might have already frozen. The kid pressed his cheek tightly against Dean's rear, trying to thaw out from Dean's warmth and block himself from the wind, but most importantly, trying to stay out of the focus of the strange woman.

"Thank you." Dean said with a nod of his head as he entered the lovely house, Sam glued to his behind. It was clean and decorated with careful attention to detail. It felt like he shouldn't touch anything because it was all so well-placed and coordinated.

"Hot cocoa?" She asked Sammy, who slunk farther behind Dean, until only one eye was visible to the woman from behind the big brother. Despite his obvious hesitancy to deal with strangers, a small smile crept across his features.

"That would be great." He said.

"What do you say, Sammy?" Dean asked with a smirk. Sam smiled at Dean, a smile that Dean knew meant he was irritated with him.

"Thank you, ma'am." Sammy said without a hint of the irritation he was feeling toward Dean.

"It's no trouble. Some for you, sir?" She asked.

"Yes, thank you." He answered. "Do you mind if we sit?"

"Go right ahead. All I ask is that you take your shoes off. I just cleaned." She smiled. Dean and Sam obliged and removed their shoes. They both sat on the couch in the sitting room. Sam sat right next to Dean, their sides pressed together. He stuck his foot on top of Dean's. They both looked at each other. Sam's foot was half the size of Dean's. It looked so small.

"This is so weird." Sam whispered.

"What?" Dean asked.

"Being a kid." Sam looked up at Dean. "I remember being an adult."

"You do?" Dean asked, sounding excited.

"Yeah. Slowly it's all been coming back to me, but then it kinda' goes away again." He sighed. "I kinda' feel like my memories are a fog that I'm trying to grab onto with my hands. One second their there, and the next their gone. And there's nothing I can do to hold on to them. One second adulthood is right there at my fingertips, the next I'm reliving my life as a preschooler entirely."

"Are you okay?" Dean asked.

"I guess. This is all just so weird."

"You're telling me?" Dean said. "It almost feels like I've got a son. And I didn't even get to do the fun part." Dean smirked at Sammy. "You know what they say about men with small feet."

"Shut up, Dean." Sam said, un-amused. "I haven't hit puberty yet." Sam couldn't get the words out without giggling.

"This is so weird." Dean affirmed.

The woman returned with a tray of hot cocoa in fancy mugs. There were four. "Here you go, boys."

"Thank you." Dean said, taking a mug and handing it to Sammy. He then took his own and took a swig. It was just what his chilled body needed. He couldn't imagine how much colder it must be for Sammy. He had such a small, thin body now.

"I'm Carol Barkley. My son is Tyler." She introduced herself. "Before I get him, I just wanted to let you know…" She looked at the staircase in the other room as if she wanted to make sure no one was listening. "The police scolded Tyler saying that it was a crime to lie to the cops. They didn't believe a word he said."

"Do you?" Dean asked, sounding sympathetic and truly interested in her opinion. After all, she was his mom. She could tell probably better than anyone else if her son was lying or telling the truth.

"I don't know. Something happened that night. Something really rattled him. He was screaming and screaming. I ran into his room and turned the light on. There was nothing there. Tyler was just lying on the floor with his legs under the bed."

"You didn't see anything strange?"

"Other than my son lying on the floor? No." She sighed. "I know he really believes what he's saying, but I understand why the cops didn't believe. He sounds like a lunatic." She chuckled a bit. "I'm sorry. I probably sound like a bad mother. I don't really think he's crazy or anything, just that something startled him, a dream or something, and he's letting his imagination take him places."

Dean nodded his understanding. "Do you mind if we talk to him?"

"No, lemme' call him down. He loves hot cocoa." She got up and went to the base of the stairs. "Tyler, sweetie. I have some hot cocoa."

The brothers listened as little feet stomped down the wooden stairs. He headed into the room with the hot cocoa, eyeing the strangers on the couch suspiciously. Carol came into the room behind her son and introduced them. "Tyler, this is Dean and his little brother Sam. He's an investigator that would like to talk to you." She sat her son down next to her.

"Hi Tyler." Dean said with a smile.

"Hello." His voice was high-pitched, like Sammy's, though he was clearly a few years older.

"We heard you had a scary night a few back." Dean led in with his best kid-friendly voice and smile.

"Yeah. I did." The kid looked at him like he didn't really trust him.

"I'm not from the police." Dean explained. "I would love it if you could tell me what happened that night. What did you see?"

"No one believes me." The kid complained in a soft voice. "Why would you?"

"I'm not like everyone else." Dean reasoned with the kid. "I'll believe you."

Tyler sighed. "Why is he here?" He nodded toward Sammy.

"He's my little brother." Dean explained. "He's helping me figure out what it was that tried to kidnap you."

"He looks too young to help."

"He's learning." Dean explained. Sammy just smiled at Tyler, trying to act his age. "What was it you saw, Tyler?" Dean asked softly. "Tell me what you really saw. I'll believe you."

Tyler squirmed a bit in his seat. He was clearly uncomfortable talking about the whole situation. He finally took a deep breath and settled into his seat. "It was Wednesday night. My mom put me to bed just like any other night."

"There wasn't anything odd going on around the house that night?" Dean asked.

"Odd?" Tyler asked.

"Like lights flickering or strange smells around the house?" Sammy piped in.

Tyler looked at Sammy. "No. It was just a normal day."

"What happened next?" Dean asked.

"Well, next I got scared."

"Why?"

"There was noise coming from the closet."

"What did it sound like?" Sammy asked, sounding a bit nervous himself. Dean eyed him strangely. _Why is he scared of a story some kid is telling?_

"It sounded like scratching." Tyler swallowed hard. "Then it sounded like giggling."

"Did you ever hear anything like this, Carol?" Dean looked at her inquisitively.

"No." She shook her head." Everything seemed normal as far as I could tell."

"Yeah, it was quiet…" Tyler explained. "but it was definitely real." Dean nodded his understanding. "I closed my eyes and crawled under my blankets."

"You're a brave kid." Dean said. "I woulda' been running for the door as fast as I could."

"I should have." Tyler said. "Under the blanket, I heard the closet door open." He looked Dean in the eyes. "I'm not kidding."

"I believe you."

"Once I heard the door open, I jumped out of bed and ran for the door as fast as possible."

"But you didn't make it?" Sammy asked, his eyes wide with fear.

Tyler looked like he had seen a ghost as he relived the night in his head. "No. The moment my feet hit the floor I was grabbed by something under the bed."

"Was there a monster under your bed?" Dean asked in all seriousness, but Carol gave him a disapproving look.

"There's no such thing as monsters. Please don't fill my son's mind with nonsense. He's scared enough." She scolded.

"Sorry. I just want to hear the story as Tyler experienced it."

Tyler waited for them to get quiet again, and then he continued. "There was." He looked at his mom apologetically. "There really was a monster under my bed. But it wasn't just one." He looked at Dean with fear in his eyes. Dean could feel Sammy gripping his arm tightly. "There were several little monsters. Each one was grabbing at my legs and pulling me."

"Where were they trying to pull you to?" Dean asked.

"I don't know. Under the bed, I guess."

"What did they look like?"

"They were goblins, or little trolls." Tyler said with confidence.

"You're sure they were goblins or trolls?" Dean asked seriously.

"Yessir." Tyler answered. "I've played enough games to know what a goblin or troll looks like. They're always kinda' like people, but uglier."

"Okay." Dean said nodding his head. "Then what happened?"

Tyler continued. "I screamed and kicked my legs. No matter how much I kicked, more of them just kept grabbing me."

"Sounds awful." Sam whispered, almost to himself. The whole room looked at him in silent agreement. Even Carol, though she didn't believe in monsters, had to admit the whole ordeal that her son went through was scary.

"After I screamed, my mommy came in." He explained, looking up to his mother. "As soon as she opened the door the goblins were gone."

"Did you see anything odd? Anything at all, Carol?" Dean asked, trying to get the story straight.

"Like I said, there was nothing odd, other than Tyler lying on the floor with his feet under the bed, screaming." She said, looking just as confused about the whole situation as Dean. "There were no signs of a break-in. The windows were all locked closed, I mean he's on the second story. I would have seen someone coming into the house, up the creaky stairs into his room. I was here watching t.v."

"Was the closet door open?" Sammy asked.

"Yeah, it was. And all the bed sheets were spread across the floor."

"Tell them about the gold, mom." Tyler tugged on her arm.

"There was no gold, Tyler."

Sam perked up. "You saw gold?" Dean looked at Sam, both knowing they were onto something.

"He didn't." Carol explained. "I checked. There is no gold in his room."

"There is." Tyler explained.

"Tyler." His mom scolded him. "Don't lie. We can go upstairs right now and see there is _no_ gold in your room." She chuckled a bit. "If there was, we'd certainly not have a leaking ceiling in the dining room." She smiled at the brothers.

"Do you mind if we take a look at his room?" Dean asked.

"Sure, but there isn't any gold." Carol said, standing up.

"Yeah, but we'd just like to get the layout of his room so we can understand exactly how the night went down." Dean said as he lifted Sammy onto his feet and got up himself, ready to follow Carol to Tyler's room.

The room was a typical kid's room. There were some toys lying on the floor and the bed wasn't made. However, whatever evidence of the kidnapping attempt was cleaned away, likely by Carol.

The search went much more quickly than the last did. This time the brothers knew what they were looking for.

"So the kidnapper or whatever had you from under the bed?" Dean asked.

"Yeah." Tyler answered with little emotion.

"Alright." Dean said through a groan as he got down on his knees by the bed. "Let's see what we got." Sammy got down on his belly next to Dean. "See anything?" Dean shined his phone's flashlight under the bed.

Sammy ran his finger across the smooth wooden floor. "Bingo." Dean couldn't see whatever was on Sam's extended index finger, but he trusted that Sammy was seeing the same golden dust.

"See?" Tyler said. "Gold."

Carol shook her head. "Tyler, there's nothing there. His finger is clean." She rolled her eyes. "Tell him, Dean. There's nothing there, right?"

"I certainly don't see anything." Dean said as he returned to his feet. "Either way, keep a closer eye on your son for the next few days. The police still think the culprit is at large. So do I."

Carol shook her head with a sorrowful look on her face. "I will." She sighed. "I just hope whoever is doing this is found sooner rather than later."

"You and me both." Dean smiled shallowly.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

Sitting on the bed, Dean watched as Sammy struggled to get a knot out of his shoestrings. They had hit the houses of the other kidnapped children and found the same evidence in each bedroom. Golden dust. It was as visible as air to Dean, but Sammy seemed to have no trouble spotting it. He had even put some in his coat pocket so he could look at it more closely later.

"Need help?" Dean asked with a smirk. Despite how strange it was to have his kid brother from 20 years ago back, he thought it was kinda' cute.

"I can get it." Sammy said through clenched teeth, pulling as hard as he could on one of the strings. It didn't seem to have any intention of budging. Dean got up and squatted down by his little brother. "I said I'll get it, Dean." His face showed nothing but childish stubbornness.

"It'll go faster this way, I promise." Dean said as he pushed Sam's hands aside and pulled the knot out with ease.

"I was gonna' get it."

"Now you don't need to worry about it." Dean said. He sighed and got serious with Sammy. "Y'know." He paused and looked for the right words. "I know what you're going through isn't easy. Hell, it's gotta' be friggin' weird being a kid again." Dean and Sam's eyes locked. "But I'm your big brother now, just like I was back when we were really kids. I'll take care of you, just like I always have. Even if you hate me for it." Dean stood up and headed to the restroom.

"Dean." Sammy said, just barely loudly enough to be heard. The older brother stopped and looked back at his little brother who was standing sheepishly next to the bed. "I mean, I know you will." He smiled shyly. "And thanks. But I don't want to become a total kid again. Y'know?"

"I know you're not really a kid again." Dean explained.

"I know you do. That's not what I meant." Sammy's brow furrowed as he searched for the right way to explain his thoughts. "It's just, I don't know what I am right now."

"What do you mean?"

"It's like I'm an adult. But I'm not."

"That's what I just tried to say." Dean said, sounding a bit confused.

"I don't mean physically. Though, that's obviously on the kid-like side." He walked to the edge of the bed and climbed onto it with difficulty, having to jump to get his butt high enough to sit. "I mean in my head. Sometimes I feel like an adult, like right now. But at the same time, I can feel my childish desires creeping in. I feel scared more. I feel weak. I feel like my mind lapses back into childish behavior." He sighed. "Maybe I'm not explaining it well. I feel like I'm becoming a kid again, like, for real."

"We'll figure this out, Sammy." Dean said, sincerity ringing true in his voice. "We always do." Dean walked toward his little brother. "I'm not just saying that to comfort you. I'm saying it because I mean it. Hell, dude. We've cheated death more than once. I think we can figure this out."

"How?" Sam asked, his voice high-pitched and doubt-filled.

"I don't know, but we will." He tousled Sammy's hair. "We always do. And until then, be whatever you need to be. Be an adult. Be a kid. I don't care. Either way, I'll be here for you."

Sammy smiled, clearly touched by Dean's heartfelt commitment. "Thanks. You're the best big brother anyone could ask for."

"I know." Dean said as he headed back toward the restroom.

Sam pulled his shirt off and kicked off his jeans until he was left in just his Superman briefs. He plopped down on his bed and was ready to sleep. As Dean exited the restroom he noticed Sammy already lying in bed. "Bedtime already?" He asked. "It's only 9:00."

"I'm sleepy, Dean." Sam said as he rubbed his eyes.

Dean shrugged. "Okay. That's fine. I could use a good night's sleep for once. You know, like, more than three hours." He smiled and stripped down to just his boxers and pulled the sheets down on his bed.

"Wait." Sammy said, sounding alarmed.

Dean's eyes went wide with a bit of worry. "What? What's wrong?" He looked at his little brother. He seemed fine.

Sam looked over at the door. "Make sure it's locked." Dean gave Sammy a puzzled look. "I just don't want anyone to come in and get me."

"No one's going to come in and get you." Dean assured him. "I won't let them."

"Please. Just check it."

Dean looked at his brother's big puppy-dog eyes. _Dang it. They work on me too when he's so small and cute._ Dean smiled a bit at his thoughts. He shuffled his feet across the room to the door. "Fine." He said and double-checked both the locks. They were secure. The windows were locked and the blinds were closed. Everything looked fine.

"Check under my bed." Sammy ordered in a nervous voice.

"There's nothing under your bed." Dean insisted.

"Please!"

Dean sighed. "Fine." He got down on his knees and checked under the bed. Just as he suspected, there was nothing. "It's all good. Nothing there."

"Thanks!" Sammy smiled sheepishly.

"Can I get in bed now?" Dean asked with a smile to his little brother. Sammy just nodded. He crawled into the twin bed. He was used to bigger beds in the motels, but he supposed this would have to do. "It's kinda' small, isn't it?"

"No. I think it's good." Sammy said seeming oblivious of how Dean's body nearly hung over the edges of the bed.

"Yeah, you would, short-stuff." Dean said through a light chuckle. "I guess you get what you pay for. Good night, Sammy." He reached up and turned off the light between the two beds.

"Night, night." Sammy said through a yawn and rolled over to sleep. Unfortunately, sleep didn't come easily. He scanned the room for nearly an hour, worried that someone was going to get him. Every small noise in the room sounded like beasts. Cars passed by the motel, creating shadow monsters racing across the walls. Sammy could feel his heart beating faster. His forehead was starting to tickle from the droplets of sweat forming.

He looked over at Dean. He was asleep and totally unaware of the potential danger Sammy was in. He was performing his usual nighttime serenade, _The Art of Snoring_. Sammy looked at the door. It still seemed locked and secured, but it didn't really matter. Each kid was stolen away through locked doors and windows. He looked back at Dean. Tyler had been saved because his mom barged in when they were trying to steal him away, whatever _they_ were. Were they really goblins? Were they trolls? He wasn't quite sure. All he knew was that right now, he was terrified and the monsters seemed to be afraid of adults. If he was alone in bed they were going to come for him. He just knew it!

He looked back at Dean again. There was creaking and cracking as the motel settled and that was it! Sammy bolted from his bed and jumped into bed next to Dean. He squeezed in tight against Dean's chest. His big brother woke up and looked at him groggily. "What's up, Sammy?" His voice was scratchy and deep.

"I can't sleep." Sammy whimpered.

"Why not?"

"What if the monsters come and get me?"

"They won't. I told you. I'm here."

"Please, can I sleep with you. Just in case." Sammy pleaded, his head pressed against Dean's chest tightly.

Dean sighed. "It's a small bed, Sammy. I barely fit alone…"

"Please!" Sammy begged.

"Fine. Just get some sleep. Just remember, it's not my fault if I knock you out of bed." Dean said with closed eyes. He pulled Sammy's body in close against his and wrapped his arm around. Sammy exhaled deeply, feeling safe for the first time all night. He looked at Dean. He was really big. Sammy couldn't believe he had never noticed how big his brother was before becoming a kid again. He could feel how strong his arm was as it was wrapped around him, holding him tightly to his large body.

"Thanks, Dean. You really are the best brother."

Dean just patted Sammy lightly and smiled. "Love you." He gave a quick kiss to Sam's mop-covered head and relaxed back onto his pillow.

"I love you too." Sammy whispered through a secure-feeling smile. He hugged Dean's large arm with his small ones, planted a kiss on his big hand, and drifted to sleep without another worry in the night. He knew that whatever could come in the dark, Dean would be able to handle it. Nothing was going to pull him from his big brother's embrace.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

Chandler rested in his golden cage. He hated being there. He hated being in the same sweaty, dirty clothing. He hated having to potty in his own cage with all the other kids around to see him. He hated being away from his own bed and his parents. He wasn't sure he would last much longer.

Just as he started to drift into another restless sleep, a bright light burned into his closed eyes. He opened his eyes and saw some sort of magical portal opening in the center of the dungeon. He wasn't quite sure how he knew it was a portal, but it definitely was. Several humanoid creatures, he thought they looked like goblins or something, stepped out of the glowing, golden portal. It was like watching a horrifying clown car. The portal was no larger than a small door, but the little monsters kept appearing from it, one after another. Finally, there was a small gang of them standing there.

The portal poofed out of existence in a large cloud of golden dust. The monsters made their way out of the room looking disappointed and tired. As they exited, a new batch of monsters made their way in and over to the child farthest away from him.

They unlocked the cage and pulled the boy from it. He screamed and flailed, desperately trying to free himself from their bonds. Chandler watched, hoping the kid would get free, but ultimately, he figured it didn't matter. They didn't know where they were or how to get out. They were stuck, whether they liked it or not. Their only hope of getting out would be if someone rescued them. Chandler hoped his dad would come and rescue him, but he hadn't seen a human adult the entire time he was here. There were only children.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

Sammy woke up as the sun crept up through the closed curtains. He had made it through the night. No one had even come to try to steal him away. He felt warm and secure. He looked around himself. Dean was sleeping, not just next to him, but was hugging Sammy to him tightly like he was some sort of teddy bear. Sammy felt safe.

He sighed and relaxed in bed for a while appreciating Dean for all he did for him. Dean, the macho-man hunter, was still willing to snuggle up with his little brother and scare the nighttime monsters away. Sam smiled. He really did have the best big brother in the world.

As Sammy stared up at the ceiling, he felt Dean's chest vibrate as he moaned. He watched his big brother stir out of sleep. They met eyes and Dean smiled warmly. "Morning, bud."

"Bud?" Sam teased. "You've never called me bud."

"Yeah..." Dean yawned. "I've never been old enough to be your father before. Now I'll call you anything I want." He smiled at Sammy. Sam just rolled his eyes.

"Ready for a day full of more research?" Sammy asked.

"Research on what?" Dean asked. "We already know what it is."

"What is it?"

"Tyler said goblins or trolls." Dean smiled sheepishly.

"Yeah, but we're hunters, Dean." Sam looked down his nose at Dean like he was some sort of librarian. "We both know there's a huge difference between goblins and trolls."

Dean sighed like a teenager listening to his parents lecture. "Fine. Fine."

"Plus we don't have any idea where to start looking for the creatures, whether they be trolls or goblins, nor do we know how to kill them." Sammy sounded like a five-year-old professor.

Dean stretched and placed a big hand on Sammy's shaggy bedhead. "Can't you go back to acting like a kid? You're more fun that way."

"Thanks, Dean. I appreciate how determined you seem to change me back."

"Yeah, well the old you sucks." Dean said, placing his bare feet on the floor.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Little you still tells me how much he loves me and how I'm the best big brother ever." He started heading to the bathroom. "I'd forgotten how nice it feels to be loved."

"I tell you that." Sam protested. "Don't I?" Sam looked at Dean for affirmation, a hint of regret in his eyes. Dean looked at Sam sadly and said nothing. "Well, even if I don't it doesn't mean I don't think it." Dean just nodded his head and shut the bathroom door. Sammy heard the shower turn on as he tried to recall the last time he told Dean anything even close to "I love you." He couldn't think of a time. _Shit. I suck..._

Dean made the shower a quick one and got ready to head out and do some scoping out of the town. Whatever they were hunting was clearly after children, so it seemed to make sense to see where around town kids would be. As he put his boots on, he noticed Sam getting himself ready too.

"You're not coming with me." Dean said like a father to his son.

"What?" Sam asked, sounding completely shocked. "What do you mean I'm not coming with you?"

"You're a five-year-old kid, Sammy." Dean stood up, making his presence seem even more large and intimidating to little Sammy. "You're a liability. I'm going out to try to pick up a trail on whatever creature is doing all this. If I find it, I don't want to have to worry about my little brother who barely stands up to my waist." Dean sounded both stern and demeaning. Sammy was furious at what he was hearing.

"Dean, we're a team!" Sam complained. "We hunt together!"

Dean's features went from protective of his little brother, to down-right angry. "We're a team, are we?" He said through a scowl. "We hunt together?" He approached Sammy, making the kid very uncomfortable as he realized he really did just stand at Dean's waist. "Because lately, I don't feel like we are."

"What do you mean?" Sammy asked, trying to hold back his trembling lips and tears.

"What do I mean? Are you serious?" Dean sounded like he was about to explode. "Ever since I've been back I've been trying to work with you as a team, but somehow I always feel like a third-wheel. I feel like I've been replaced."

"What do you mean? You're my brother."

"I know I am. Why do you think I've been taking care of you like I'm your dad or something? Family matters to me! It means something to me!" His anger-filled eyes lock onto Sam's tear-filled ones. "While I'm bending over backwards to try to work as a team with my own brother, you're more distracted by that bitch Ruby. You trust her more than you trust me, your own flesh and blood." He started to march toward the door in a huff. "Don't you tell me we're a team." He turned back and looked at Sammy with hurt eyes. "You haven't been on my team for a long time now."

"Dean..." Sammy muttered, but it came out with more difficulty than he expected.

Dean held his hand up. "Just..." He took a deep breath. "Don't, Sammy." He opened the door and took one look back at Sammy. He couldn't tell if Sammy was sad or angry. Dean figured he was probably both. "I'm going to go hunt. When I get back, I expect to find you here, safe and sound. You can do some research or something." He slammed the door as he left.

After Dean had left, Sammy spent the next hours staring at a laptop screen. He typed various lore ideas into his search engine, desperately trying to find something that would help them identify the monster. The problem was that all they found was golden dust that only children seemed to be able to see. Maybe if he had proper lore books around that would help, but with only the internet at his disposal, it was hard to find anything that seemed legitimate.

He tried to do some research, but his mind was racing. He was so upset with all that Dean had said, and also angry. Who was Dean to call him useless? He and Ruby had accomplished more in the time they worked while Dean was in Hell than he and Dean had ever accomplished just the two of them. He wasn't useless. He was the brains and the brawn of the operations.

Sammy shut his laptop, unable to focus. He began pacing the room, trying to calm himself down. Nothing seemed to be working. _I'm not useless. I can help._ He shook his head at himself. _You are helping, moron. Research is helpful. Besides, Dean's right. You're a kid now. You can't fight like he can- not until you're restored to normal... if that ever happens._

He sighed as he tried to calm himself down so he could get back to his research. It just wasn't working. He felt like ever since he had become a kid again, his emotions were all over the place. One second he was happy as could be, loving every moment he had with Dean like a little kid having a vacation with dad. It had brought him back to the good times he and Dean had when they were growing up and Dad was gone, like the time when Dean had taken him out into the backwoods on the Fourth of July and lit off fireworks with him. The next moment, however, he could be angry, depressed, or scared out of his mind. It almost felt like he was losing his mind to his young age.

He stopped pacing and took a deep breath. _You're fine, Sammy. You just need some fresh air. Let's take a walk and then we'll get back to work. It'll be fine. Dean's mad, but he wasn't lying. Family does mean everything to him. He'll make sure you're turned back into an adult._ Somehow, his own mental monologue made him feel a bit better already, but he figured a walk wouldn't be a bad thing for him.

He put his shoes on and headed out the door, making sure to lock it behind him. He stuffed the motel room key into his jacket and headed out on a walk through town. _I better not stay by the roads. Dean might see me._ Not quite ready to face Dean again, he decided it would be better to take an off-road walk into the woods on the outskirts of town. It was still noon. There was nothing he needed to be scared of at this hour.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

Dean returned to the motel room feeling like the day was wasted. He had located the town's school and other places that kids might gather. He wasn't sure if that would be helpful or not. He also saw banners for a marathon of sorts that advertised a child pairing up with an adult and running the whole race together. Whether not that was important, Dean wasn't sure. So far it seemed like they were just kidnapping kids from their bedrooms, plus a couple of adults. He wasn't quite sure how the adults were connected, if they even were.

As he scanned the motel room he noticed one very important thing was missing.

"Sammy?" Dean asked, his voice calm. All the anger he had earlier was gone. Now he just wanted to see his little brother safe and sound. That was the trouble with being the big brother. No matter how far off the reservation Sammy went, Dean couldn't keep himself angry forever. All it took was one sweet smile from his little brother, five-year-old version or 25-year-old version, and his anger dissipated, replaced entirely with brotherly over-protectiveness, and possessive love. God help the woman that tried to come between them. His heartbeat crept up as he stood alone in the silence of the room. No response. "Sammy, are you here?"

Nothing.

Dean pulled his cellphone from his pocket and called Sam. As the phone rang he heard the familiar jingle of his little brother's phone ringing throughout the room. It was muffled, but definitely in the room. Dean searched, he wasn't sure why. It was clear that the phone wasn't with his brother, but instincts led him to search it out anyway. He rummaged through Sammy's adult clothes until he found the jeans with the phone in the pocket. "Shit." He said to himself.

He passed the time, waiting for his brother, by looking over the various webpages that Sammy had loaded onto his laptop. It was clear that the websites were questionable. The internet was such a blessing, but at the same time, full of meaningless, made-up crap. It was hard to distinguish legitimate websites with real lore from those that geeks with too much free-time wrote up for Dungeons and Dragons or whatever. He minimized the websites and saw a document open on the computer. It had few words. "Dean. Went on a walk. Be back later."

"So much for staying put…" Dean sighed to himself. Having no idea what else to do until his brother returned, Dean pulled his shirt off and lied down to sleep. It was frustrating to him how hot the motel was. It was cold outside; the management must have decided to crank the heat up to summer weather inside. Despite the sweat soaking his underarms and the back of his neck, Dean managed to close his eyes into a nap – a luxury he rarely found the time for nor could get himself to take, especially after his time in Hell.

Dean slept calmly, despite his expectation of the usual occurrence. Typically, his sleep was burdened by images of Hell and the fear of going back. Today, the only thing on his mind was his little brother. He kept reminding himself that even though Sammy's in the body of a five-year-old, he's got the intelligence and capabilities of an adult. He'd be fine.

Dean was awoken from his sleep as he heard the door to his room quietly shut. Groggy, Dean turned to look at the door. "Where have you been, Sammy?"

The voice that returned wasn't Sammy's at all. "Try again." Dean watched as two people he'd never seen before walked cockily across the small room.

"Who are you?" Dean asked, his mind waking up faster than it was accustomed to. The two didn't respond with words. They answered with a more direct method. Both of their eyes flicked black as night as they stared at Dean with cruel intentions. "Demons." Dean growled.

"We happened to see that your little demon-killing machine of a brother wasn't around." The girl demon smirked. She was attractive. If she wasn't possessed by a demon, Dean would definitely have been getting her number.

"What did you do to him?" Dean asked with fierce eyes.

"We didn't do anything to him." She smiled an evil grin. "It's what we're going to do to you that's the real fun."

Dean tried to jump up out of bed to fight, but the large demon man was on him too fast. He struggled, but Dean couldn't overpower him. Demon's had an inhuman strength about them. Without Sammy, an exorcism, holy water, or Ruby's knife, there was nothing he could do. He gave up the fight and prayed that Sammy would find him, despite his small stature.

His thoughts grew dark. Sammy had told him several times that he was getting tired of working with Dean. They had just had another fight and Sammy went against his orders and left the motel. What were the chances that Sammy would come looking for him? Family didn't seem to be everything to Sam. He did, after all, ditch Dean and Dad to go to college instead of fighting alongside the family. Dean's lip quivered. The thought of losing Sam was too depressing to linger on. He focused back on the situation he was in. There was no way Sammy could rescue him. He was five years old again… Dean slumped in his captor's arms.

"That's a good boy-toy." The woman purred. "Be obedient and we may kill you a bit more quickly than we were planning."


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

Sammy finished his hike along the harbor and the beach, forgoing the woods. It was too cold to go as far as the woods, plus it looked like it could rain soon. Once his emotions had calmed down and he was ready to deal with Dean again, he made his way back toward the motel. He was prepared for whatever lecture Dean was going to have for him. He was always like that. Even before he was a little kid again, Dean was hovering around him, always concerned, trying to control his every move and keep tabs on him. Sammy figured it was because of the whole Ruby thing. Why couldn't Dean just trust him for once?

He let out a heavy sigh. Trying to see things from Dean's perspective, Sammy prepared for the lecture, reminding himself that Dean meant well. Dean loved him and wanted him to be safe. Sometimes being a little brother meant letting your big brother worry over you, even when you didn't necessarily need it.

When Sammy arrived at the motel the first thing he noticed was the Impala. _Dean's home._ He thought, preparing himself to take whatever Dean had to say without an argument back. He knew that he was in the body of a five-year-old and there was no doubt that amped up Dean's big brother needs. He knew that meant Dean was going to be more protective of him than he already was when Sam was taller than him.

As he opened the door and made his way into the room they shared, he stopped and looked around confusedly. Something important was missing.

"Dean?"

Sam didn't get an answer and he immediately knew something was wrong. As much as Dean would never admit it, he was a domestic engineer. It was Dean that kept the beds made when Sammy forgot. It was Dean that made sure the laundry was cleaned and put away. Nothing like that was done. The bed was a mess, like Dean had taken a nap or something. If Dean had taken a nap and gotten up per usual, then he would have made it again. Maybe he had received an important lead on the monsters. But if that was the case, he would have taken the Impala, but that was still parked outside the motel room.

Sammy looked around the room for his adult jeans. He found them and the cell phone, which wasn't in them anymore, but was instead resting on top of them. Apparently Dean had messed with his phone. He flipped it open and saw a missed call from Dean. Sam figured he must have been looking for him while he was on a walk. But where was Dean now?

Calling Dean, he waited while the phone rang and rang. Finally, his voice-mail came up and Sam spoke into the phone with a panicked pre-pubescent voice. "Dean, where are you? Are you okay? Call me!"

As he hung the phone up, he noticed something around the doorframe. At first he thought it was the golden dust he had been seeing at all the scenes of the kidnappings, but it wasn't that. It was something else. As he gathered some up on his finger, he gave it a sniff and was all-too-familiar with what it was: Sulfur.

His cellphone back in on the action, he waited for the other end to pick up.

"Hello?" Came the gravelly voice of Dean's and his surrogate father, Bobby Singer.

His voice was that of a panicked child as he screamed into the phone, desperate for Bobby's help. It felt so much like his childhood, screaming at Dad. Only, this screaming wasn't a fight like it was with Dad. This was screaming from concern. "Bobby, it's Sam Winchester. I'll explain my voice later. Right now, I need your help."

"What's wrong, boy?" Bobby's voice had escalated from his greeting. No doubt, he was worried about his Winchester sons, though they had no blood relations.

"He's been kidnapped by demons, I think." Sammy sounded like a kid that was being bullied on the playground. He could feel the tears running from his eyes and the snot dripping unattractively from his nose. "I found sulfur around the doorframe. Dean's Impala is still in the parking lot. Something's wrong."

"Okay. Okay. Calm down, son. Why can't you go after these demons yourself?" Bobby asked, though Sam figured he already had a pretty good idea what was going on. Sammy's voice was unmistakably that of a young child.

"I'm a kid again. I'm not sure how, but I am. We're thinking it's goblins or trolls."

"Neither of them can turn people into children that I know of. They just hunt children." Bobby sounded confused.

"Anyway, that's not as important right now. Dean's been kidnapped by demons. I'm too small to get him. I need help."

Bobby's voice was hesitant. "Have you..." He paused like he was considering whether or not he should actually finish his thought. "Have you called Ruby? Maybe she could help."

"No." Sam sighed. "I don't think that would be a good idea. I'd rather make that a last resort. Dean's kinda' in this situation because of a fight we had over Ruby. If I brought her to save him, he might kill her. Or worse. He might kill himself." Sammy laughed nervously.

"For cryin' out loud. You boys fight more than two bulls in the prime of mating season." He went quiet as he thought. "There is one hunter I can call that's in the area. I can't say I know him too well, but he's the only option I think we have."

"Can't you come and help?" His voice sounded high-pitched and whiny.

"Wish I could, but I'm in the middle of a hunt myself. I'll call this guy and see if he can't meet you at your motel. Just gimme' the details and I'll get it all set up."


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

Sammy walked around the room, worry totally racking his body. He was sweaty and antsy. No matter how many times he checked out the window, there was no sign of anyone coming. Had Bobby really called this guy?

After what felt like eternity, someone knocked rather forcefully on the door. Sammy perked up and got ready to answer it. He wasn't sure why, maybe because he felt so small and defenseless, or maybe because he was scared as a kid, but the idea of opening the door to a stranger worried him. He unlocked the door and pulled it open.

"Are you Sam?" a tall, handsome man asked. Sam's worry shot through the roof. This guy was as big as Dean was and just as strong looking, well, almost as strong. If he wanted to hurt Sammy, there was nothing the kid could do to stop him and he knew it.

"Yeah." His voice came out weakly, sounding much like a mouse.

"Bobby Singer told me what's happened to your brother. Kidnapped, right?" Sammy just nodded, staring up at the big man through large, nervous eyes. "Do you have any idea where the demons would have taken him?

"No, sir." Sam said, unsure of why he was addressing this man like he would his father. Something about his large stature and intimidating presence made Sammy feel like he was dealing with Dad again.

"Okay, then we have some work to do."

"Okay. Come on in." Sammy gestured for the man into the room. Despite being in the body of a kid, Sammy was a little embarrassed to be seen by another hunter wearing Star Wars shoes and kid's clothes.

"How long ago did they take him?" the man asked.

"Maybe a couple hours ago." Sam said, not entirely sure.

"Then they couldn't have gone far. We've got to try to catch a lead on him."

"We could track his cellphone." Sam said.

"Good idea. Do you know the number?" Sammy nodded. "Good. Then let's do that."

After just a short few moments on the laptop, the man had tracked Dean's cellphone to an area on the beach not more than a couple miles from where they were. With that lead the two of them were in his truck and on their way.

"You're sure your brother's not going to mind me bringing you along?" the man asked. His voice was deep and felt warm to Sammy. Was he trustworthy or was he just being kind as a cover up? Sam could never be too careful. There were many hunters that knew the rumor of the younger Winchester boy working with demons and stuff. Some people wanted him dead like he was some monster. Others didn't. Which was this man?

"It doesn't matter what he wants. He's the one that's kidnapped. I'm going to help rescue him." Sam sounded as determined and tough as he could despite having the voice of a five-year-old.

"Okay." The man said letting out a couple chuckles. No doubt listening to Sammy talk like a tough guy in his current stature was a bit humorous, though Sammy hated to admit that. "I'm Clark by the way. Clark Vence."

"Like Superman." Sammy said.

"Right..." He gave Sammy a strange look, but then smiled. "Like Superman."

"Dean loves Superman." Sam smiled sheepishly. "I'm Sam Winchester" He introduced himself.

"I know." He said, continuing to stare at Sammy with an odd look.

"What?"

"It's just..." He shrugged. "I thought you'd be older. I've heard so much about the Winchesters. I figured you'd be older."

Apparently Bobby hadn't filled him in on all the details. Maybe for good reason. Sammy figured he'd just play along until he knew more about this guy. "Sorry. I'm just me."

"Nothing to apologize for. It's what I get for making assumptions."

The conversation died out while they finished the short drive. Sammy stared out the window. It was starting to rain. _Great... Anything to make everything more miserable than it already is..._


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

When they arrived at the marked location that Dean's cellphone pinged from, they found themselves at the entrance of a sewage treatment plant. They both looked at each other with the same fear in mind.

"This is gonna' smell, isn't it?" Clark asked with a disappointed face.

"Yup." Sammy confirmed.

They made their way into the building and found it didn't smell nearly as badly as they figured it would. The buildings were dark, but not to the point they couldn't see.

"Does this seem like a typical place to take someone?" Sammy asked. "Usually when we're kidnapped they take us to old abandoned buildings or places far away from civilization."

"Are you kidnapped often?" Clark asked looking concernedly at Sam.

"More than you'd think."

"I don't know how you deal with it. You're like what? Seven years old?

"Five, actually."

"Shit, man." Clark shook his head in disbelief. "You're gonna' be one badass when you grow up." Sam chuckled at the comment.

As they made their way deeper into the facility, neither of them noticed the small creature following them. Mixy kept her distance as she followed after the boy. She was getting irritated trying to get this boy. She was powerless until she was able to recharge her power, but in order to do that she needed to link herself to the boy she had marked. Unfortunately, the boy she marked was more cautious than she figured he would be. She wasn't able to steal him away on her own. No, she needed Rulin and his minions for that. Unfortunately they could only steal children away in their sleep. Mixy hated working with them because of their archaic and out-dated rules, but at this point she didn't have another choice. Until she had her power back or until Rulin had enough children to change his game plan, she'd have to wait until they could steal this kid away safely. They all knew his brother was a hunter, and he was not to be underestimated.

She followed them, keeping an eye on all they were doing. She couldn't help but get worried. To make matters worse than having to rely on Rulin to do her work, now the boy was running into a trap set by demons. Demons were creatures not even the Tinks crossed ways with. They were dangerous. However, Mixy was desperate for this boy. She had marked him. He was her only way back home. She didn't have enough power to mark another kid, nor did she have the power to go back to Neverland without first linking to him. If the demons killed him, she would be trapped in this disgusting world the humans called earth.

Sam and Clark ran into a large room with big vats of water being sifted by large, noisy machines, getting any large materials out of the water so it could be sent off to a different machine for purifying. At the other end of the room Sam saw Dean. He looked a bit beaten on, but relatively okay.

The two hunters ran across the room. Sammy ran up to Dean, ready to untie him, but was disappointed to find that he was too short to reach his older brothers arms. They were tied above his head to some hooks that looked like various tools used to drag things out of the water were hung.

Sammy placed a small hand on his big brother's bare stomach and shook him. "Dean!" He hissed. "Dean wake up!"

Dean moaned and started to come back to the world of the conscious. "Sammy? S'that you?"

"Yeah, Dean. I'm here." Sam said, trying to hold back tears. He was so relieved to see his brother okay. "We gotta' get you outta' here."

Clark began untying the ropes that held Dean while Sammy kept talking to him to keep him awake. As soon as Dean's hands were free he fell limp onto Sammy, knocking the kid to the ground.

"What have we here?" Came the voice of a woman from behind them. "Sammy? You came?" Sam tried to see her, but couldn't because of his large brother lying on top of him. He was heavier than Sammy remembered. _Or maybe I'm just weaker..._

"Dean, come on man. You gotta' get up. They're going to kill me." Sammy pleaded. At those words Dean's big-brother instincts must have kicked in. His eyes shot open and he climbed off Sammy in a hurry, ready for a fight.

Sammy got up and looked at the demons. There was a young woman one and a large man. The woman winked at him and spoke. "I figured Ruby would have taught you better than to walk into a trap." She laughed. "I swear. Catching a Winchester is the easiest thing you could ever do. Hang one up and the other comes running."

"Shut it, bitch." Dean growled.

"Dean, Dean, Dean..." She said with a _tsk, tsk, tsk_. "You're not the one calling the shots here." Her eyes flicked black as she stared hatefully at the brothers. "I am."

"Bring it." Dean said, tensing up for a fight.

"Kill him." She ordered the larger man. He smiled, all-too-happy to hear the command. He marched confidently, chest puffed up, toward Dean. It looked like he was going to have fun.

Dean ran at the big man. Sammy watched, unsure of what to do. Dean looked like a pro-wrestler, his shirtless torso bulging as each well-developed muscle pumped up as he grappled the large man. He grunted as he struggled against the demon's superhuman strength.

As his big brother wrestled with the man, Sammy watched as Clark began shooting the woman with a rock salt-filled shotgun. He couldn't remember the last time he felt so useless. He stood there, useless, and scared. Not just for his own life, but for the life of his big brother as well. He focused his power, hoping that he had enough demon's blood pumping through his child-sized veins to force these demons back to Hell. As much as he focused, nothing happened.

Mixy watched as her marked child stood, watching a struggle between man and demon. Was this her chance? No one seemed to be paying any attention to the kid. Perhaps she didn't need Rulin. Maybe she could steal him on her own. She slowly flew herself nearer to the boy, making sure to remain out of sight by hiding behind pipes and poles throughout the large room.

She was so close, but yet, had no idea how to steal him. Without any of her magic there was nothing she could do. Sure, he was a small child, but compared to her Tink body, he was still humongous. She watched and pondered.

Sammy stared, unable to take his eyes off of Dean and the large demon man as they fought. His worry skyrocketed as the fight took a turn for the worse. The demon man finally overpowered Dean, forcing him onto the ground. He straddled Dean with a demonic grin and began choking him.

Forcing his fear down, Sam brought himself out of his paralyzing stupor. _Idiot, you have Ruby's knife. Use it!_ Excited to be useful and able to rescue his brother, he pulled the knife out of his back pocket and rushed at the big demon. Unfortunately, the demon saw him coming. He turned and pushed Sam hard. He flew back across the room, dropping the knife on the ground.

With the kid out of the way, the large demon went back to strangling the larger Winchester. Mixy watched with worry. She knew that if the demons succeeded in killing the adult, they would no doubt kill the kid too. She needed the kid. Looking back at the small figure, she saw that he was in a daze. He wasn't moving quickly enough to be able to get back to rescue his brother. What to do?

She spotted the knife on the ground. She hated herself for what she was about to do, but she needed that boy alive. After making sure that everyone was too preoccupied to notice her, she sped out of cover as quickly as her fairy wings could take her. Grabbing the knife, she could feel its demonic power. This was no ordinary knife. It had great power in it, but she wasn't sure how or where it came from.

Pushing her curious thoughts aside, she flew with the giant knife in her arms, weighing her down as it was just as tall as she was. Once she had made it to the large demon, she plunged it into his back as hard as she could. Orange lightning began to shoot out of the knife throughout the demon's body. It released its grip on the larger brother and fell limp on the ground.

Dean got up from the ground and raced over to his dazed little brother. "Thanks for that." He coughed, trying to recover from nearly being strangled to death. His face was still red and tense. "You okay?"

"Yeah." Sam said, his head still fuzzy. "But I didn't do anything."

"You threw the knife." Dean said, patting him proudly on his tiny shoulder. "And it was a damn fine throw. Hit him square in the back."

"I didn't throw the knife." Sam reiterated. "All I did was drop it on the ground when he pushed me."

Dean looked at Sammy confused. "Whatever. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, go help Clark."

Dean got up as fast as his sore body could move him and grabbed Ruby's knife. Clark was struggling against the woman. No matter how many rock salt shots he put into her, she wouldn't go down. She saw Dean running at her with the knife and saw her partner dead. She glared at Clark with an evil smirk.

In one last desperate attempt, she used her powers to force Clark and Dean across the room without even touching them, and she ran as fast as she could toward the little kid who was still sitting on the ground trying to wipe the stars out of his vision.

"No!" Dean hollered as he chased the woman over to his little brother. She grabbed Sammy by the throat and lifted him off the ground, choking him. Dean moved as quickly as his legs would take him. He came up to the woman from behind and reached the knife around, slitting her throat, saving his brother's life.

Blood sprayed out of the woman's open wound as orange lightning danced throughout her body, indicating the demon's death. Sammy squeezed his eyes and mouth closed as demon's blood sprayed mercilessly all over him, soaking his hair, face, and clothes.

Dean watched the blood cover his brother head to toe and feared the worst. Dean knew his brother was addicted to the shit and wasn't ready to go through the whole fight again. To Dean's surprise, Sam didn't drink any of it. He didn't even lick his lips. He kept his eyes and mouth closed, as if he was disgusted by the stuff. Maybe his child body wasn't addicted to it, like he wasn't back when he was really a kid. His addiction was a rather new development, at least as far as Dean could tell. It almost seemed too good to be true.

The woman's body hit the floor with a thud, and no later was Sammy swept up into Dean's big arms. Dean held Sammy to him so tightly Sammy was afraid he wouldn't be able to breathe. Sammy looked at Dean and saw that his eyes were closed tightly and tears were streaming down his cheeks.

"Are you okay?" Sammy asked through a struggled voice as Dean squeezed him too tightly. Dean realized he was hurting the little guy and loosened his grip.

"Yeah. I'm just so relieved."

"You thought I was going to die?"

"Yeah, and then when all the blood sprayed on you... you didn't..." Dean stopped when he saw Sammy giving him a strange look. Deciding he wasn't in the mood for a fight, he decided to drop what he was about to say. "I'm just so glad you're okay."

"What? You thought I was gonna' lose control?" Sammy said bluntly, as if the idea was ridiculous.

"Whatever, just drop it." Dean said, sounding like he wanted the conversation to stop there.

"You think I'm some freak?"

"No." Dean hollered. He looked intensely at his brother. Sammy was sitting in his arms looking anywhere but Dean's eyes and looking so vulnerable. He was looking down at his tiny little feet, not moving or saying anything. Dean sighed, practically feeling steam shooting out his nostrils. He was so frustrated. He placed Sammy on the ground and knelt, looking him in the eyes. He knew his brother was addicted. He also knew he had told his brother it was a bad path to go down, but yet he clung to Ruby like she was his only lifeline. It offended Dean. He was supposed to be Sam's lifeline, not some demon bitch. And now he disobeyed him, even as a five-year-old. "I told you not to leave the motel." He watched as Sammy's little lips quivered and his shoulders deflated. "Why can't you ever listen to me? I don't just say the things I say because I want to be bossy." He could feel the anger swelling up within. "I tell you because I want you to be safe. You could have died!"

Sammy squeezed his eyes tightly closed and Dean could see the tear run down his cheek. Dean kicked himself mentally and sighed. Was this what being a parent meant? Trying to manage emotions as you steered your child down the path best for them, even when they didn't want it? Kids were so complicated. Or maybe they weren't. Maybe they were simple and adults were the complex ones.

He didn't know what else to say. "Sammy, I just-"

"I wanna' go home." Sammy said, quietly and distantly.

Dean sighed. Sam shuffled his feet over to Dean, not once making eye-contact with him, and stopped, staring down at his feet. They were so small compared to Dean's. Dean wasn't sure what to do or say. If Sammy was an adult he could lecture him, unleash his fury on him. He could take it. But as a kid, Dean wasn't so sure.

Sammy lifted his arms up like he used to when he wanted Dad to carry him. "Carry me, please?" His voice sounded quiet and nervous. Dean looked at Sammy with shock. It was like a slap across his face. Like an "F" being marked on his parenting test. Sam may as well have kicked him in the balls. Sammy almost never said 'please' to Dean. Not because he was mean or had bad manners. No, Sam had perfect manners. He was always the 'yes sir', 'no ma'am' kid. He was always the shining star of good manners in the room as kids. Even as an adult he was overly courteous and polite to others. But never to Dean. Not because he didn't like Dean. It was the opposite. They never needed to be polite to each other. They were always there for each other. They never needed to say 'please' or 'thank you'. They took care of each other. That was all there was to it. Now Sammy was treating Dean with the same level of courtesy that he treated complete strangers. Sammy couldn't have made how he felt about Dean at that moment any more clear. Or maybe it was how Dean made him feel.

Pressing all his anger and frustration with his little brother down and putting Ruby's knife in his pocket, Dean picked his little brother up and rested him in his arms like a parent does his child, holding him eye-level, Dean resumed his role as big brother. Sammy wrapped his arms tightly around Dean's neck and locked his legs around just above his waist. Dean never thought he'd be so relieved to be holding his brother. He wasn't going to let him go until they were safely back at the motel.

"You okay?" Came a deep voice unfamiliar to Dean. He turned with his little brother in his arms.

"Who are you?" Dean asked, suspicious.

"The man that saved your life." The guy said, sounding a bit caught off-guard and offended by Dean's lack of appreciation.

Dean sighed and let his shoulders relax. "Sorry. I—"

"It's fine. I get it." He said. "You're just glad to have your brother again. Safe and sound."

"Yeah." Dean said through a smile. "I'm Dean."

"I know." Clark smiled. "I'm Clark. Bobby sent me to help you out."

"Any chance you could help us get back to our motel?"

"Absolutely." Clark said. "I just wanted to say. It's nice to actually get to meet you. I've heard so much about you and Sam."

"You have?" Dean asked, sounding a bit confused and concerned.

"Yeah, you know. Rumors and stuff from other hunters." Clark smiled as they made their way back to his pickup truck. "I was telling Sammy, I was expecting him to be older. The stories I've heard about you two make you both sound incredible, and a little..." He looked at Sammy. "Intimidating."

Dean nodded, knowing exactly what he meant. "So you've heard?"

"About the demons and stuff?"

Dean looked at Sammy to gauge his reaction, but found that the kid was sleeping soundly in his arms. "Yeah. The demons and stuff."

"I've heard. I can't say I believe it." Clark said matter-of-factly. "No hunter would be working with demons or anything."

"Right." Dean said, trying to sound convincing. "I'm glad you understand."

"Yeah."

They made it out of the building and to his pickup truck. Dean looked it over. It was nowhere as nice as his baby, but it was a nice car, especially for a hunter. He opened the passenger's door and realized something very important.

"There's no back seat?"

Clark looked over the roof of the truck. "No, it's a two-seater. Three, I guess, if you include the middle. But nobody likes sitting there."

"You let my five-year-old brother ride in the front seat?" Dean asked, his voice growing louder with each word. "He could have gotten killed! What if you were in a crash?"

"Dude, I'm a safe driver." Clark tried to explain, but his words did nothing to deter Dean's furious glare. "He's safe."

"You're lucky he is." Dean hopped into the passenger's seat, resting the sleeping Sammy on his lap, pressing his cute little head affectionately against his cheek. "I better not see you speeding." Dean couldn't believe what he was saying, but something about having this small Sammy sleeping carelessly in his arms made him feel more responsible for his little brother than ever. The words their Dad had seared into Dean's brain echoed relentlessly in his mind, just as powerful as the first time their Dad had spoken them. _Take care of Sammy._

Dean took a deep breath. He was. He was taking care of Sammy. And he always would. He'd stayed by him through everything. Despite Sammy allying himself with the demon Ruby, Dean was still sticking by him. Something that wasn't as easy to do as Dean wished it was. He was human too. He had emotions. And Sammy was trampling over them each time he ditched him for Ruby.

He pushed those thoughts out of his head. Now was not the time to linger on the wrongs that adult Sam had done. Now he had a small, fragile kid in his arms, sleeping and totally helpless against the world. The only thing between Sammy and a world of monsters and demons that would tear him apart was his big brother. Dean knew that and wasn't about to let his responsibilities slide. Sammy was going to be safe. As long as Dean was around, there was never a reason Sammy shouldn't feel safe.

He watched his sleeping brother in silence as they drove through the cloudy weather and wet roads back to the motel. It wasn't raining anymore, but it was very evident that the rain had only stopped shortly before. He smiled as he noticed the small wet spot on his shoulder from Sammy drooling on it. Sammy was warm against his bare skin. Something Dean welcomed in comparison to the cold weather outside made worse from the overcast sky.

They pulled into the motel and Clark opened the door while Dean carried the sleeping Sammy into the room and out of the cold. He hoped that no one saw them. With all the blood on Sammy, and now on him due to Sam turning him into a human bed, they surely would have called the cops, and then they would have had some problems trying to explain everything to the cops.

Clark shut the door and locked it. Dean sat down on the bed as Sammy's eyes fluttered open. He woke up staring into his big brother's concerned eyes. "You okay?" Dean asked.

Sammy nodded. "Just sleepy."

"Good."

"Sorry to interrupt, but now that the demons are taken care of, either of you care to tell me why you're here in the first place?" Clark insisted. "I've come to help, and I don't intend on leaving until the job is done. The _whole_ job."

Dean nodded his understanding. There wasn't a ton to tell. They hadn't learned that much, but at least now they knew what had happened to the two missing adults. They were the meatbags for two demons, now dead. "I'll explain everything, but first..." He looked down at his blood-covered, exhausted looking little brother. "We need to rest up."


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

With the bathtub full of hot water, Dean walked out and grabbed his little brother. He carried him into the bathroom and closed the door behind them, leaving Clark to rest on Sammy's bed. "You're a mess." He said to his little, tired, blood-covered brother. The words were soft and endearing, not telling Sammy anything he didn't already know.

Dean stripped Sammy down and lifted him into the bathtub. Sam sat awkwardly, not entirely sure why Dean needed to be in the room while he took a bath, or even more, why he was taking a bath and not a shower to begin with. Dean squatted down by the tub, right behind his kid brother. "Dean, you don't need to-"

"Sammy." Dean said quietly. "Please." Sammy sat, naked in the tub, silent, trying to figure out what was happening. He waited for Dean to finish his thoughts, but there was nothing but silence. Sammy jumped as the heat of the hot water poured over his head.

"Dean, I'm naked." Sam protested to his big brother's presence.

"I've seen you naked before." Dean chuckled a bit to himself. "Hell, I helped dad potty train you when you were little."

Dean proceeded to pour the hot water over Sammy's blood-covered hair with his cupped hands. His hair was crusty with dried blood and smelled like death and sewage. Sammy rested his head back into Dean's hands and relaxed. His big brother sat silently, still doing nothing but holding his soaking wet hair and tiny child head in his hands.

Sammy felt Dean's chin rest gently on top of his head. Dean didn't say anything. He just sat there with his chin on Sam's head and his eyes closed. Sammy could hear him take a deep breath. He figured even big, tough hunters like Dean needed moments of weakness. Moments where they could just let their walls down and work through things.

"Dean..." Sammy began, his voice soft, almost a whisper. Dean didn't say anything, but Sammy knew he had heard him. The single word lingered in the air, neither reacting to it, but neither ignoring it either. Sammy felt nervous for some reason. He wasn't sure why, but somehow it felt like something bad was going to happen. He could hear Dean sniff his nose hard, like he was crying. Sammy felt tears forming in his own eyes. What was going on? He couldn't take the pregnant silence anymore. "Are you okay?" He knew there was more going on than Dean just suddenly getting the uncharacteristic urge to bathe his little brother. Though, thinking about it, Sam figured maybe it wasn't so uncharacteristic at all. Sure, Dean was the tough guy and all that, but at the end of the day, he was a big brother. He was the guy that had raised Sam. Sammy knew he owed everything he had, including his life to Dean. Dean hadn't just taken care of him. He had sacrificed everything he ever wanted for Sammy.

Dean sniffed again. "Yeah, Sammy. I'm fine." Sammy sat, resting his head back on Dean's hands. He knew there were more than four short words that needed to come out of his brother's mouth, but he also knew that with Dean, it was better to let him get around to saying what he had to say at his own pace. So silence it was.

Dean poured some motel shampoo into his hands and began massaging it into Sammy's drenched hair. "Close your eyes." It sounded like he nearly choked on the words. "I don't want it to get in your eyes."

Sammy didn't say anything, but he did close his eyes. He relaxed his body, letting himself fall back against the wall of the tub, and onto Dean's warm shoulder as he enjoyed the feeling of Dean scrubbing the mess out of his hair. It felt almost like getting a massage, but he didn't have to pay for it. For such tough and callused hands, a distant and guarded temperament, and worked and strengthened muscles , Dean had a gentle side too. It was a side that Sammy figured not many people ever got to see. It made him feel privileged. Special. Loved.

Once he couldn't take the silence anymore, Sammy turned around in the tub and faced his big brother. Dean had his eyes squeezed closed, trying to force tears away without wiping them with shampoo covered fingers. Sammy cried some and offered Dean a quivering smile and reached up to wipe his tears away with a tiny finger.

That broke the flood gates.

Dean sobbed, crying uncontrollably. "Dean?" Sammy asked concerned, but was given no answer. Dean was too lost to his crying fit. Sammy sat on his knees so he was at the right height to squeeze his brother in the biggest hug he could muster in his five-year-old body. Dean grabbed Sammy and pulled him in even tighter. The tears were relentless and Dean's breath was broken as he struggled through his fit. "I'm right here. Everything's going to be okay." Sam wasn't really sure what was wrong, but he knew Dean would get around to it. Until then, all Sammy could offer him was his reassurance and love.

As Dean squeezed him, Sammy looked over Dean. He was covered in blood. His whole chest and stomach were red from the blood he got on him carrying Sammy around. It was just another reminder to Sam of all that Dean did for him. All that he sacrificed for him. It wasn't his blood this time. But it had been in the past. Sammy remembered watching Dean get ripped apart, literally, and brutally, by a Hellhound, not because he deserved it. No, he was torn apart because he had sold his soul to Hell in order to save Sammy's ass.

Dean sniffled, and cleared his throat as he tried to put his crying to rest. "I'm sorry, Sammy." He forced the words out of his mouth. He sounded like he was barely holding on, like any small thing would set the whole crying fit off again.

"It's okay, whatever it is. It's okay." Sammy rubbed Dean's back with his small hand.

Dean pulled back from Sam and looked him in the eyes. "I'm sorry for making you so uncomfortable." Dean let out a shallow laugh, sounding almost like a quick breath. "I know you can bathe yourself. You're not really a kid." Dean rubbed his teary eye on his shoulder and refocused on Sam.

"That's okay. Like you said, you've seen me naked before." Sammy smiled. "For all I know, you've probably bathed me before." Dean smiled and nodded. Sammy figured there probably wasn't anything that Dean hadn't done for him before.

"Yeah." Dean laughed a little. "You always fought me a lot more over it. This is the calmest you've ever been at bath time."

"Really?"

"Yeah. You used to cry and throw a fit on bath night." Dean said, smiling as he recalled the memories. "Dad couldn't put up with your tantrum, so I told him I would do it. That way he wouldn't yell at you so much." He chuckled a bit. "Man, you guys could fight over anything."

"You did that for me?" Sammy asked quietly, feeling overwhelmed by the love his big brother had shown him his whole life.

"Yeah, Course I did." He poured some hot water over Sam's shampoo-covered hair. "I'm your big brother."

Once the water had rinsed all the shampoo out of his hair, Sammy felt Dean's hands gently press the excess water from his hair and clear his face so he could open his eyes again. "What's this all about, Dean?" Sammy asked in his high-pitched voice. Dean looked into Sam's big kid eyes. They were so full of concern. Of warmth. Of love. Dean could almost literally feel his heart swelling up. He'd been deprived of any kind of love or affection lately, plus with the added nightmares of Hell constantly on his mind, he had felt like he had been living with a giant empty whole in his chest where his heart was supposed to be. Not because he didn't have any love to give, but because he felt like he never received any.

"I just need this." Dean said with a shaky, quiet voice.

"Need what?" Sam asked. "To bathe me?"

Dean didn't even crack a smile at the statement. He was serious right now. "No. This." His hands gestured back and forth between Sam and himself. "You and me."

"You always have me."

"Maybe you're around me most days, but I haven't had you in a long time." Dean looked at Sammy with watery eyes. "I was serious when I said I feel replaced."

"You're not replaced." Sam insisted.

"Please, Sammy." Dean shook his head, not wanting to hear any kind words that he knew were mostly, if not entirely, empty. He rubbed soap all over his hands and began cleaning off Sam's body. Sammy didn't move. He kept his eyes fixed on Dean, more concerned with his brother's well-being than he was with how awkward it was to have his brother cleaning him.

"I'm sorry, Dean." Sam said softly.

Dean nodded his head slowly. "I just hate how much we've been fighting recently. It's always one thing or another." He lifted Sam's arms up and lathered up his armpits. "I just really needed this moment. Not the bath or whatever. Just a moment with you and me. A moment for me to love you. No fighting. No nothing. Just to love you, like I did when you were a kid."

"You never stopped loving me, Dean." Sam explained with his big puppy-dog eyes. "My whole life you've been watching out for me and taking care of me."

"I know." Dean said shaking his head, his eyes closed to hold back tears. He dipped his hands in the warm, red-stained bathwater, rinsing the soap off his hands. "But ever since you've been a kid again, you've..." His voice trailed off.

"I've what?" Sam asked.

"You've made me feel loved again." Dean started crying again. "I'd forgotten what it felt like to be loved." Sam looked at him, desperately wishing he could go back in time and throw more love Dean's way. He hated to hear that he was hurting so much. "Y'know, when I was kidnapped by those demons, I wasn't sure who would come and rescue me, if anyone would at all. I wondered if it was going to Bobby, or if it would be you. Hell, maybe it'd even be Ruby." He took a deep breath and sighed heavily. "I wish I never had to wonder. I wish that I could have known for sure that my brother would save me."

"I'm sorry, Dean." Sammy wasn't sure what else to say. What could someone say to make up for making someone feel so alone? So unloved?

"That's why..." Dean's voice got caught in his throat. He cleared it and sniffled. "That's why I needed this moment. To just be alone with you while you still love me. To be your big brother again, like I was back when we were kids, and to take care of you. No demons. No danger. Just to take care of you like a family does. To just have a moment with you hoping that maybe you'll say you love me again." Tears were running down his cheeks as he began to splash water gently on Sam's body to rinse the soap off of him.

Sammy sniffled, tears escaping his eyes relentlessly. "I do love you, Dean. More than you know." He hugged Dean as tightly as he could. "I mean it. I love you." He pulled back and placed his hands on Dean's shoulder, locking eyes with him. "Thank you, Dean. For being my big brother. For taking care of me and sticking by me even when you've felt like I didn't love you. I can never thank you enough for all you do for me. I love you." He hugged Dean again. Dean pulled away and cleared his eyes of tears and his throat of that choking feeling you get when on the verge of sobbing.

"I know." Was all he managed to force out. He grabbed a towel and gestured for Sammy to stand up and get out of the tub. "Come on." Sammy got out and stood, letting Dean dry him off. He looked up at Dean and smiled. Dean smiled back and threw the towel over Sammy's head to dry off his mop. Sam hugged Dean's huge leg tightly.

"Thank you."

"You bet." Dean whispered back as he knelt down and wrapped the towel around Sam's waist. "Oh, and I realized something."

"What?" Sammy asked perplexed.

"Earlier, I called you a liability..." His voice trailed off.

"I get it, Dean. I'm small. I know I'm a liability. I just-"

Dean cut him off. "No. I was wrong. I thought you'd be a liability, but you're not. You're a wicked good hunter, even as a kid. Hell, you saved my life back there. If not for you, those demons would have killed me." He sighed. "My point is, you are a liability to me. Monsters can get to me through you. But it goes the other way too. The only reason those demons captured me was to get to you. I'm a liability to you."

"What are you saying?" Sammy asked.

"What I'm saying is, that even though we may be a liability to each other, we're also each-other's greatest strength. You help me, I help you. You save me, I save you. We work well together. Together, we may be the best hunters out there, I dunno'." He smiled at his kid brother. "What I'm saying is we need to stick together. No matter what. Right?"

"Right." Sammy said with a smile. Dean smiled back.

"Wanna' get some dinner and fill Clark in on the hunt?"

"You sure you're okay?" Sammy asked.

"Yeah. I'll be better once this hunt is over with and I know you're safe, back to being the gargantuan you're supposed to be." He led Sam to the door. "Though, I'll be honest. I'm gonna' miss having the pocket-sized Sam to tote around like old times.

"Shut up." Sam laughed. "I'm not some little dog you can carry around in your purse."

"Bitch."

"Jerk."


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20**

Chandler watched as the strange creatures came back into the room. He squeezed his eyes closed and pretended to be asleep. Through the small sliver of space he left himself to see through, he watched in fear as the monsters approached the cage Jason was stuck in. Jason noticed that it was him they were marching toward and began to panic. Nothing good could come from a group of small, mischievous, ugly little troll-goblin-things marching at you with proud, determined expressions oozing from their features.

"No, please!" Jason begged, his voice echoing hopelessly through the chamber. There was no one around to hear his cries. Chandler wanted so badly to open his eyes and offer Jason all the comfort he could, but his own fear won him over. It seemed safer to pretend to be asleep, so that's exactly what he did.

The creatures took Jason out of his cage and led him out of the chamber. It reminded Chandler of the scene in _Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones_ when the bad guys captured Anakin and Padme and they led them out to die in the coliseum. Somehow it was exciting in the movie and full of hope for the characters, but now it was horrifying and seemed like Jason was done for. There was no one to help him, and nothing he could do.

Chandler listened through closed eyes as Jason screamed as he was dragged away. There was no doubt in his mind. Jason was going to die. He would never see the _Power Rangers_ again. His life was ending shamefully early. A fate that Chandler feared would become his own in the all-too-near future.


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21**

Sam and Dean sat in the same diner they ate in just the day before. Dean stared across the room to the bathroom doors where he and Sam had fought. For some reason, the words Sam had said to him in there were haunting him. _Get a grip, Dean! Why are you being so emotional right now?_ No matter what he tried to distract his head with, the worry that Sam was going to ditch him as soon as he was big again clung. He knew that he was competing with Ruby, and there was sadly, a good chance he was losing.

Clark sat across the table from Sam and Dean as they waited for their food, listening to Sammy as he described the hunt so far as if he was an adult, yet it was coming out of the mouth of a child. It was something Clark couldn't quite get used to.

"So after we finished ganking all the Tinks we made our way here to figure out what was stealing the children." Sam explained. "The only thought we really had was a changeling, but it didn't make sense that the alarms never went off, nor were there any signs of a break-in."

"Plus, the changelings usually leave a replica of the child to feed off the mother." Clark added.

"True." Sam nodded his head, deep in thought. "I hate to say this, but I'm not really sure what we're dealing with, but it's definitely something."

"You're sure there's a case here?" Clark asked.

Sam gave him the biggest 'duh' face he'd ever seen. "Dude, I'm trapped in my five-year-old body. I'm pretty sure there's a case here."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm not really five." Sam said, a bit shocked Clark hadn't figured that one out yet. "You didn't think it was odd when Dean asked me if I wanted to drive?"

"I figured he was joking." Clark shrugged, and then his face looked like he just figured out something strange. "So you're telling me that Dean bathed a... How old are you?"

"I'm 25"

"So Dean bathed his 25-year-old brother?" Clark said with a laugh.

"Yup." Sam said, not cracking a smile. He wasn't about to sit there and let some stranger insult his brother when he was as emotionally damaged and vulnerable as he was at the moment. He would protect him like he always was nowadays.

"That's weird."

"He's a good brother." Sam insisted. "Anyway, can we get back to the case?"

"Fine." Clark raised his hands in the air in surrender. "What do you think, Dean?"

Dean snapped back to the real world at the call of his name. "What?" He asked, totally oblivious of what they were talking about. They both looked at Dean with confused expressions.

"I asked 'What do you think?'" Clark reiterated in a clear voice.

"About?"

"The case."

"Oh, right." Dean smiled apologetically. "Sorry, I was thinking about something."

"It's fine."

"I'm not sure what we're dealing with." Dean admitted. "Now, I've never seen one for real, so I'm not sure if they really exist, but the kid we talked to that had apparently seen the kidnapper and lived to tell about it said that the creatures stealing people were goblins or trolls."

"Creatures?" Clark asked.

"Yeah. He talked about more than one."

"There is a lot of lore on both goblins and trolls." Sam added. "Though, it's hard to tell if any of it is legitimate or if it's all made up for games and stuff."

"Sounds like a lead to me." Clark said, sounding like it was their only option. "Goblins or trolls." He laughed a bit to himself. "We live in one weird world."

"You're telling me?" Dean asked with a smile. "I'm staring at the five-year-old version of my brother."

"I'm living as the five-year-old version of your brother!" Sam added.

The waitress came over with their food, which Dean had quickly and proudly ordered, looking way too excited. "What did you get me, Dean?" Sam asked. He was in the restroom when Dean ordered. His kid bladder just couldn't hold liquid like he could when he was an adult. Dean didn't answer. He just smiled.

"Who ordered the cod sandwich?" She asked. Clark answered with a raised hand. She smiled and passed it over to him. "There ya' go, honey."

"Angus beef burger with bacon?" She asked.

"That would be me darlin'." Dean said, rubbing his hands together in anticipation. It looked so good. Or at least, to Dean it did. The burger was several inches tall, oozing condiments out the sides, soggy, and grease covered. Delicious!

"And for the kid, the Kiddie Fish Stix." She smiled largely at Sammy as she handed him the fish, followed by a bib with a big cartoon smiling fish. "Enjoy it, cutie."

Sammy smiled to the waitress, but glared at Dean. "Thank you, ma'am!" She left with a wink. The moment her eyes were off of them, Sammy elbowed Dean in the side hard. "A kid's meal?!"

"You'd never be able to finish a big-boy meal." Dean said. "You didn't even finish your grilled cheese last time."

"Still. It's humiliating."

"Shut up, no one even knows that you're not really a kid. Just Clark and me."

"Still, I have my dignity." Sam complained. "At least let me have that."

Dean just rolled his eyes. "Fine." He looked down at Sammy with a smirk. "Bitch."

"Jerk."

Dean looked up, ready to eat his sandwich when he caught the young mother sitting at the table next to him eyeing him like he was the worst parent ever. Dean opened his mouth to try to explain himself, but what could he really say? _He's actually 25, lady!_ Yeah, right... To her, he just called a five-year-old boy a bitch. She shook her head like a disappointed mother and went back to caring for her own children.

They ate the rest of the food over light conversation, nothing dealing with the hunt. They talked about their favorite weapons, the Impala, previous hunts, and hobbies they had, or didn't have in Dean's case. Was "Sammy" a good answer to the question 'What's your favorite hobby?' He figured it probably wasn't...

Back at the motel, Dean checked to make sure the windows were locked, the curtains were closed, and the door was locked up. "Look good to you, Sammy?" He asked for approval. Sammy was already sitting on the twin bed they were going to have to share now that Clark was staying in the room with them. Dean walked over to his duffel bag and kicked off his clothes, except for his boxer-briefs and grabbed his gun from his jeans. He knew it would make Sammy more comfortable if he was sleeping with a loaded .45. Hell, it would make Dean feel better too!

"You're sure you don't mind sharing a bed?" Clark asked. "I'm invading your room. I can sleep on the floor."

"Don't worry about it." Dean said. "He'd end up in my bed anyway. Since he's turned into a kid, he's somehow become scared of the dark again. And being alone." Dean climbed onto the bed next to Sammy, who snuggled up tightly against him.

"Okay. I'm just gonna' do a bit of reading about goblins before I hit the hay. Will the light bother you?"

"Nah, I was gonna' read too. That way Sammy can get sleepy while the light's still on."

"I'm not tired." Sammy explained, sounding like a kid complaining about having to go to bed.

"Well, it's passed your bedtime." Dean said, hating that he sounded like a lame soccer-mom trying to get her kids in bed so she could enjoy some alone time with a smutty book and a glass of wine. Dean settled back against the pillows, lifting his book up to read. Sammy lied down on top of the sheets, resting his head on Dean's thigh.

Dean read his dad's journal, looking for any mention of goblins or trolls. However, so far, he'd had no luck. He looked up from the book as he felt Sammy messing with his leg. He looked up and saw Sammy playing with his leg hairs. Clark was secretly watching too, from over his book.

"Whatcha' doin', Sammy?" Dean asked in a quiet, kind voice. It didn't really bother him that Sammy was messing around with his hairs. They had been together nearly every hour of every single day for most of their lives. Dean wasn't sure there was anything that Sammy could do that would bother him all that much.

"You're hairy." Sammy said rather absentmindedly, like there was something more going on in his head.

"Yeah. That's part of being a man." Dean explained a bit confused at the statement. "But you already know that."

"And you're big." Sammy kept staring at his leg hairs, playing with them.

Dean was a little unsure of what to say to that. He was a fairly large guy compared to the average man, but compared to Sammy he was just a short thing. He was pretty sure Sam was more muscular and stronger than him too, though he'd never admit it out loud. "I guess so."

Sammy finally looked up at Dean's face. "I never noticed that before."

"What?"

"How big you are. You're a really big guy." Sam said. "I'm sorry I never noticed that before."

Dean looked oddly at the kid. "That's okay." He said the words slowly, each one coming out like he was grasping at straws for a response.

"No, it's not. I'm your little brother. I idolized you growing up. I've always wanted to be just like you, and yet, I never even noticed how big you are. I never noticed how hairy your legs are. I never noticed the freckles on your shoulders."

Dean stopped him. "What's this all about? You don't have to notice all of those things."

"It's not right, Dean, and you know it."

"What's not right?"

"I know for a fact, that you could tell anyone anything about me. I wouldn't even be surprised if you knew how many hairs are on my head." Sam crawled up and sat close to Dean so their heads were close.

"That's 'cuz I'm your big brother. I have to know these things."

"No you don't. You do because you love me."

"And?"

"I love you. So I should know these things about you. I owe you that."

Dean pulled Sam in tight and placed his big arm around him. "You don't owe me anything."

"I do. My whole life you've been doing things for me. Growing up, when I needed to eat, it was never Dad I went to. It was you. When I was hurt, Dad wasn't there to clean me up and put a bandage on it."

"Sammy..."

"Please, let me finish." Sam begged through teary eyes. Dean nodded. "When I was scared, it was never Dad that checked the closet or under the bed. It was never Dad that I could crawl into bed with. It was never Dad that I woke up in the morning next to being hugged. It was _never_ Dad. It wasn't Dad that gave me the puberty talk, Dean. It was you. It wasn't Dad that helped me light fireworks, taught me how to cook, encouraged me to chase after the things I wanted. It was never Dad! Never! It was _always_ you, Dean. Always." Dean wiped a tear from Sammy's cheek. "It was never Dad that dried my tears. So, yeah, Dean. I do owe you something. I owe you everything. I'm pretty sure that if you weren't around, I wouldn't be alive. Hell, I know that's true."

"So?" Dean asked, holding back his emotions that were pounding on the walls of his heart to be let out. Something about this miniature Sammy was making him all wussy and emotional.

"So?" Sammy asked in his mousy child voice. "So? I owe you everything."

"I said you owe me nothing. And I meant it." Dean explained, squeezing Sammy affectionately. "I didn't do those things to get anything back from you. I did them because you're my little brother. I've always taken care of you, and I always will."

"So, I guess what I'm saying is..." He shrugged, finding himself at a loss of anything deep to say. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." Dean kissed Sammy on the forehead. "It's really time you get to sleep. I don't mean to treat you like a kid, but you are in the body of a five-year-old. If you want to have any energy to help hunt tomorrow, then you need your sleep."

Sammy sighed. "I hate that what you just said is true." Sammy crawled under the sheets with Dean. His big brother pulled him in tight and snuggled up together just like they had when they were kids together in the rundown motels Dad used to leave them in. "Thanks for everything, Dean. I love you."

"I love you, too. Good night."

"Night night."

"You know..." Clark said, putting his book down. "I just have to say."

"What?" Dean asked, foregoing lifting his head and looking at Clark. He was with his brother and that was exactly where he needed to be.

"The rumors about you two are true."

"The rumors?"

"Yeah. All the hunters I've come across have said the same thing. Mostly. Some say Sammy's evil and needs to be killed. Some say the opposite. But both sides agree that you'll never find two brothers as close as you. You're like legends. Inseparable brothers. It's commendable." Clark smiled. "I just wanted to say that. You guys are awesome brothers. You're lucky to have each other. In this line of business, most men have to go it all alone. I'm glad you two don't. If what the rest of the rumors say are true, it sounds like you guys have been through a lot, and will go through a lot. You need each other."

"Thanks." Was all Dean could figure to say. Everything grew quiet as Clark leaned over and turned the light off. Dean could hear the quiet and adorable sound of little Sammy breathing steadily in his sleep, his little hands clutching Dean's big wrist tightly, like he was the lifeline that would keep the nightmares away. He rested Sammy's little head under his own and closed his eyes. He would be the lifeline that would keep the nightmares away. As long as he was here, nothing bad was going to happen to Sammy. He would make sure of it.


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22**

Chandler couldn't stand it. He was so tired, but he could never sleep. Every time he thought about closing his eyes, fear gripped him and forced his eyes open. His eyelids were so heavy and in pain. It was as if someone had stapled them open. His eyes were so dry from practically never closing and his head bobbed as his brain tried to force the rest of his body to sleep. Despite its noble efforts, the fear was too strong. Chandler would not be sleeping any time soon.

As his head bobbed, he heard the sounds of feet marching down the hallway leading into this prison chamber. He peered through squinted eyes at the group of creatures walking in. They were snickering and cheering like they had won some victory. Chandler couldn't think of what they could be so happy about, and he wasn't sure he cared to know.

He watched as the monsters formed a circle in the center of the chamber, where there was a set of braziers providing dancing firelight for the entire room. Their shadows flickered and wavered on the wall as the fires shone brightly. One of the creatures caught Chandler's eyes as he saw something glimmer around its neck. As he looked closely through sleep-deprived eyes, he gasped quietly to himself. Around the neck of one of the monsters was a necklace. The emblem on it looked like the lightning bolt from the _Power Rangers._ Chandler knew who that was. That was Jason.

How was that possible? Chandler couldn't understand it. Jason was a boy. Just like he was. He wasn't a monster, was he? He couldn't be. He seemed just as scared at Chandler was. Was it possible that those creatures turned him into one of them?

Chandler watched as one of the creatures, wearing a different outfit from the rest of them stepped forward. Most of them wore torn up rags as clothes, but this one wore an over-sized purple robe with lots of pockets. He grabbed from within one of the large pockets a handful of what looked like golden dust. It whispered some words Chandler couldn't understand and threw the dust in the air. However, the dust didn't just spread into the air in a cloud of golden sparkles. Once it left his hand it unnaturally flew through the air and formed the shape of a circle. Once the circle was complete a strange glimmering wall formed in the center. It looked like a portal, and Chandler had the creeping suspicion that it was exactly what it looked like.


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23**

Sammy woke to the duet of Dean and Clark snoring on alternating beats. Thankfully, the snoring wasn't as loud as it could be. Some nights Dean didn't snore at all, though that was kinda' rare. Other nights Dean sounded like some sort of monster out of Sammy's worst nightmares. Tonight was somewhere in between.

It was still dark out. Sammy glanced at the clock on the nightstand. It read 11:00. He found that he couldn't move much because Dean was hugging him rather tightly. Sammy wasn't sure why, but it didn't make him feel uncomfortable. Rather, it made him feel safe. With Dean's big arms around him, it was like nothing could get him.

He turned his head and looked at Dean. It was strange. In his sleep, Dean looked younger. Not because he was growing younger like Sam did. Just because his face wasn't so tense. It was at peace. It was calm. It made Sammy a little nervous, but when he was sleeping Dean actually looked rather vulnerable. It broke the comfort Sammy felt in thinking his brother was nearly invincible.

Sammy thought to himself. _You know he's not invincible. He's tough on the outside, but not invincible. On the inside... that's another story..._ He knew that Dean was possibly just as vulnerable on the inside as Sammy was right then, as a child. Dean had always been an emotional person, though he made great efforts to hide that fact. Sammy knew it though. He may not have known everything about Dean like he felt he should, like Dean knew about him, but he did know that. Dean was vulnerable. He was easily wounded emotionally. He had an exposed heart, ready for anyone to plunge a dagger in with their words or actions. He knew that he had actually put some knives in that heart himself. Sammy hadn't been... still wasn't the perfect brother Dean deserved. Part of him feared he never could be. He had to do what he had to do to save the world from Lilith, and more importantly, the Devil himself.

He let out a deep breath and clutched Dean's arm and tried to get himself to shut back down and sleep. As soon as he closed his eyes, he heard something. His eyes bolted back open. There was some sort of scratching coming from the bathroom. Sammy mentally kicked himself. _Why did I force Dean to close that door?_ He had thought it would be less scary with the door closed, but now he wanted nothing more than to see what was behind it. Well, there was one thing he wanted more than that: for nothing to be behind the door at all. He knew that wasn't the case. Whatever was stealing children, whatever had turned him back into the wimpy little kid he was now, had finally come for him.

Sammy knew what to do. He had years of practice. Years of training that taught him what to do in situations like this. His father had left them home alone all the time. Sammy knew what his job was.

"Dean!" He whispered panicked, shaking his brother's big arm until Dean startled out of his sleep.

"What? What's going on?" Dean asked, his voice scratchy and confused. He leaned over Sam and looked at the clock. "It's barely past 11:00, what's wrong?"

"There's something in the bathroom." Sam said, trying to control his shaking voice. He pointed at the door. Under the door, he could see little shadows moving back and forth from the moonlight that was cascading in through the bathroom window. "See it?"

Dean threw the sheets off the bed and motioned for Sammy to stay put. "Yeah." He whispered. There was definitely something there. Clark quietly got out of his bed too. "Clark, watch the front door. Don't let anything in this room." Clark did as he was told.

As the older brother tip-toed, gun in hand, toward the closed door they all could hear the giggling of several little creatures. Dean crept near the door and placed his hand very gently onto the doorknob, ready to throw it open and expose whatever creatures were hiding there in the dark. He gave a look back to his little brother who was sitting on the bed looking more frightened than Dean could ever remember seeing him. Dean felt the pangs of sorrow and worry on his heart, and took a deep breath. _Nothing's taking him. Not on my watch._ This was what Dad had charged him with. Take care of your brother. That was his order. That was his mantra. That was his life. Dean was not about to let anything hurt his Sammy.

With renewed vigor, he flung the door open hard and jumped into the bathroom, quickly scanning it with the expertise of a well-trained agent, and found nothing. The room was empty and quiet. He moved quietly to the tub and flung the shower-curtain open. Nothing.

By the time Sammy heard it, it was already too late. Giggling under the bed. "Dean!" He shouted, fear echoing through his voice as it bounced off each wall in the small motel room. The noise rang in Dean's ears like his worst nightmare.

Before Sammy could react any farther, something in the dark grabbed him by his ankles and unceremoniously yanked him to the floor and tried to drag him under the bed. Sammy grabbed onto the nightstand, but his little kid arms just weren't as reliable as his adult ones. He couldn't overpower them, not even for a second. His fingers slipped, so he groped for the next thing available: his coat. With his coat in his clutches, he looked back to see what had his legs.

It all happened in just a few seconds. Dean was bounding out of the bathroom toward his brother. Clark ran over, flicking the light on. Both of them were just shy of reaching the little Winchester. They both watched helplessly as some horrid little creature, about the size of Sammy, as fast as lightning, jumped out from under the bed, and pushed the little Winchester's head under the bed. Just before it followed him under, it glanced up at the large men and snickered. Before they could do anything, the creature was under the bed.

Dean threw himself on the floor, grunting as his body protested in pain as his bruised limbs and torso felt the force of the hard carpet impacting his body in an instant. He shoved his head under the bed, eyes darting back and forth.

It was empty.

No monsters.

No clues.

No Sammy.

"No! No!" Dean came up from the floor. "Sammy! No!" He wasn't sure what he was feeling. His gut was filled with the heat of anger. His heart was bleeding with the tears of sorrow. His body was trembling from the onslaught of guilt. His head was swimming with thoughts and plans. What just happened? Where did they all go?

"What do we do?" Clark asked, being careful not to upset the large Winchester more than he already was.

"I don't know." Dean whispered, almost sounding like he was giving up already.

"It's not over. We'll get him. Don't lose hope." Clark said, trying to give him a pep talk. "Don't give up."

Dean looked at him and Clark held his breath. He had never received a look so fierce. The older brother's eyes were almost inhumanly determined. It frightened Clark a bit. The brother spoke with a voice as sharp, determined, and firm as well-forged steel. "I never give up. Not on Sammy."


	24. Chapter 24

**Chapter 24**

Sammy couldn't quite tell what was happening. Everything was going on so quickly, it almost didn't feel real. When things finally slowed down, Sammy found himself in the middle of a large chamber filled with piles of gold and jewels. He was being dragged by his legs, clutching his jacket like it was the only thing attaching him to the real world, the world without little nasty monsters and giant piles of treasure.

Turning his head to look at whoever, or more likely, whatever was dragging him, Sammy rolled his eyes. _Good call, Tyler. It is goblins..._ The little creatures looked as ugly as all the legends said. They were pale and sleazy looking. They had beady little eyes that glimmered yellow in the light and warts all over them. Their ears were tall and pointy, just as their noses were long and sharp looking. Each one, save one, wore just rags as clothes. One, however, wore a large purple robe with lots of pockets. That one must have been special, not that it mattered. They would kill them all if they had the opportunity.

Sammy turned back and noticed a glowing circle, it looked much like a portal. It had to be, because that's definitely where they were dragging him from, because he had no other explanation to how he got there. As he studied it while being dragged away, it poofed out of existence in an explosion of golden dust. Just like the dust he had found in every room. Things were starting to make sense! That explained how they could get into houses and out without leaving any trace, save the dust.

When the trip across the floor came to an end, Sam found himself rather forcefully pushed into a cage that seemed like it was made entirely of gold. They slammed the cage shut and locked it. Sammy felt like he was now part of some twisted fairy-tale with goblins, especially after having just hunted that clan of Tinks.

As Sam settled into his cage he heard a child's voice address him.

"That sucks." the kid in the cage next to him commented.

Sammy peered over at him with a confused expression. "What sucks?"

The kid let out an humorless laugh. "Besides being trapped here?" The kid nodded his head in Sam's direction. "They caught you in just your underwear."

Sammy felt himself blush. He had forgotten he was just in his Superman underwear. He wasn't shy around Dean, but with a total stranger, he wasn't too keen on running around in his briefs. "Tell me about it..." Sam sighed.

"I'm Chandler." the boy introduced.

"Sam."

"How old are you?"

"I'm tw-" Sam 'corrected' himself. "I'm five."

"Sorry, kid." Chandler looked sympathetic to Sam's predicament. "It sucks here."

"You're Susan's son?" Sam asked, his hunter side kicking in.

Chandler looked at him with surprise and suspicion. "How did you know that?"

"My brother. He's a Private Investigator. He is looking for you."

"He's probably not anymore." Chandler sighed.

"Why?"

"He's probably looking for you." He looked at Sammy with confusion again. "How old's your brother? You're only five."

Sammy chuckled a bit. "He's old."

"Like 16?" Chandler asked, his eyes going wide with amazement. "Can he drive?"

Sammy genuinely laughed, despite being trapped in a golden birdcage. "Try 29."

"Are you serious?" Chandler asked, his mouth dropping wide open. "He's almost my mom's age."

"Pretty crazy." Sam said with a smile.

Chandler's mood changed as they settled back into their cages. "Anyway, there's no way outta' here. I've been here forever."

"Almost a week." Sammy stated.

"It's really only been a week?"

"Not even."

"Feels longer." Chandler sighed. He looked tired, hungry, and thirsty. He needed rescued. So did Sam, for that matter.

"Don't worry. We're going to get outta' here." Sam tried to revitalize his spirits.

"How? Your big brother?" Chandler psh'd, like he had no faith in that. "He won't find us. No adults come in here."

"What do you mean?"

"I've not seen one adult here." Chandler explained. "I'm the oldest kid, I think."

"Where are all the kids?" Sammy asked, noticing that several that were reported kidnapped were missing.

"Until you, it was just me and Cindy over there for a while now." Chandler pointed at a few cages down.

"Why's she so far away?" Sam asked, trying to get a good look at her, but her cage was blocked by the other empty ones. "Why are all those empty?"

"Do you want them full?"

"No, not really. I'm just curious."

"There were kids in them. One of them was named Jason. The others never talked with me." Chandler looked a bit sad and scared as he spoke.

"What happened to them?" Sammy's voice betrayed his mature and fearless attitude he was trying to convey. Fear was beginning to sink in.

"They took them." Chandler's eyes met Sammy and Sammy saw nothing but raw fear in them. Whatever they were doing was scaring the shit out of this poor boy. Sammy felt his breath tighten in his chest. It was scaring him too.

"Why? Did they kill them?"

"No. You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"I was just dragged from my brother's bed by a group of little goblins." Sammy grabbed the bars of his cage and looked at Chandler. "I'm pretty sure I'll believe anything now."

"Whatever kid." Chandler shrugged. "I just don't wanna' scare you."

"I'm already scared."

"Fine." Chandler sighed. "They took them and I think they're turning them into goblins too!"

"Why do you think that? Did you see them do it?"

"No. But there was this kid in the cage next to me."

"Jason?" Sammy asked, trying to get the details down.

"Yeah. He wore this necklace. I think it was from Power Rangers or something. Anyway, they took him and then a few hours later, the goblins came back, but there were more of them. And when they got into the center of the room I noticed one was wearing the same necklace."

"You're sure it was the same one?" Sammy's voice was shaky from fear. The last thing he wanted was to be turned into a goblin. They were so short and ugly. He wanted to be big again.

"Yeah." Chandler sounded like he'd never been so sure of something. "That's when they left. The next thing I knew, they were here with you."

Sammy looked like he was on the verge of panicking. "We gotta' get outta' here."

"How?"

"I don't know. I-, I-" Sammy was losing focus. The idea of becoming a goblin was horrible. It was difficult enough being a kid again. He couldn't wrap his head around what it would mean to be a goblin. What would Dean do? Would he hunt him? Sam shook his head. He knew better than that. Dean wouldn't even hunt him if he was a demon. Dean loved him. Dean needed him.

"Don't worry, kid." Chandler gave Sammy what was obviously the most fake smile he had ever seen. "They won't come for you, at least not next. I bet they'll come for me because I've been here longer."

"But-"

"That will give your brother more time to find you."

Sammy appreciated what Chandler was trying to do for him, but somehow it made him feel guilty. He was a hunter! He was supposed to be offering comfort and protection to Chandler. It was supposed to be the other way around! But in the child-sized body he was in now, there was no way he could offer Chandler any comfort.

"I have a brother." Chandler said, staring at the floor. He sounded sad. He must have been missing his brother.

"Big or little?" Sammy asked.

"He's my big brother." Chandler smiled genuinely at Sammy. "He's a jerk."

"My brother's a jerk, too." Sammy chuckled.

"His name's Tommy."

"Mine's Dean."

"My brother is 12 years old. I hope he's looking for me like yours is."

Sammy prayed that his 12-year-old brother was not looking for him. That would just add another body in these cages. But he couldn't say that to the boy. "He is." Sammy smiled. "That's what big brothers do. They take care of little brothers, right?"

Chandler cried, nodding his head with conviction. "Yeah. He always takes care of me. Except when he's being a jerk." He laughed a little through tears. "Does your brother take care of you?"

"All the time."

"Really? That's gotta' be nice."

"Our parents are dead." Sammy started, not sure why he decided to tell the kid all about his family. "My mom died when I was still a baby. I barely remember her. My Dad just died over a year ago."

"Who takes care of you?" Chandler asked, sounding totally sorry for Sammy.

"My brother. He's like my Dad now. I don't know if he knows it or not. He's taken care of me my whole life."

"Then he's on his way here right now. Don't worry." Chandler smiled.

"I know he is. He's coming to save you, too!"

"Good." Chandler sat down in his cage. He moaned. "I'm so hungry."

"Do they feed us?"

"Not enough." Chandler lamented.

"Then I guess it's best we don't move too much or we'll get even hungrier."

"You're a smart kid." Chandler laughed.

"Thanks. My brother taught me everything."

"I guess we just sit until he comes to rescue us."


	25. Chapter 25

**Chapter 25**

Dean and Clark spent the night and the early morning driving around Port Washington, desperately searching for Sam. Dean checked every back alley, every abandoned building, and every niche off the beaten path. There was no sign of Sammy. Without a kid, they had no way of searching for any of the golden dust. Things seemed pretty hopeless.

Clark sat in the passenger's seat of the Impala. He looked over at Dean and saw a determined man. His eyes were focused, like a cat that's locked onto its prey, just about to pounce. However, behind that determination, there was a very evident level of worry. "We're gonna' find him." Clark encouraged the brother.

"You don't know that." Dean shot back almost instantaneously.

"If any of what I've heard about you is true, then we'll find him, and he'll be fine."

"I'm not as great as you seem to think I am." Dean sounded vulnerable for the first time since Clark had met him. "I've done terrible things."

"You're a hunter. It's part of the gig."

Dean chuckled in response, not buying the line for a second. "You should have hunted with Sam. He never did anything terrible." Dean laughed some to himself. "He was practically a priest or something. His moral compass was so sensitive it was actually annoying." He sighed. "But now I miss it."

"You'll get it back. We're gonna' find him."

"Right..." Dean said, wishing that finding Sam meant having his goody-two-shoes attitude, puppy-dog eyed, so-sorry-about-your-loss, shed-a-tear-if-you-stepped-on-a-spider brother back. But it didn't. If they found him and managed to restore him to his adult self, Dean knew he'd just have the Ruby-trusting, demon-blood-guzzling, lying brother back. The one that wanted Dean out of the picture. The one that would rather travel the country with a demon than with his own brother.

They patrolled the town, but had no luck. Sam was gone without a visible trace or a lead to follow. "Now what?" Dean asked, sounding like he was losing hope.

"Sammy's not dumb. He'll find a way to let us know where he is."

"How? He was dragged under the bed and then vanished." Dean pounded his fist on the steering wheel. "Shit!" He shouted. "I was right there and they stole him from right under my nose! Hell, I had my arms wrapped around him!" Dean's eyes were growing teary.

"It's not your fault." Clark tried to explain calmly. "Neither of us had any idea what we were up against."

Dean sighed. "Goblins."

"Yup."

Dean tried to calm himself down and think like a hunter. "Okay. If Sammy was here, what would he be doing to get this hunt going?" Dean asked himself. He looked over at Clark. "Research. He'd be looking up everything he could about goblins."

"So we research." Clark affirmed.

"But he's the smart one." Dean said, sounding self-depraving.

"You're no idiot."

"How would you know?"

"Because Ellen said so." Clark said with a tone of authority, as if Ellen was quotable as factual evidence.

"You know Ellen?"

"Where do you think I heard rumors about you and Sam?" Clark asked with a smirk. "The Roadhouse."

"Okay. So we head back to the motel and we do some research."

"There was nothing in my bestiary. I've never encountered them before." Clark confessed.

"There was nothing in my Dad's journal either." Dean sighed with frustration, but then his eyes lit up. "But Sammy already did research. He left it up on his laptop."

"So we just need to read up on all that he looked at?" Clark asked.

"Yeah." Dean smiled with a sense of pride, like a father who was talking about his son's success in athletics. "But this is Sammy. He didn't just load the websites. I'll bet you anything that Sammy already highlighted everything important."

"You think?" Clark said with a smile.

"I love that kid!" Dean hooped as he directed the Impala back to the motel, a new feeling of hope burning in his heart.


	26. Chapter 26

**Chapter 26**

Sammy sat, desperately trying to locate a way out of his predicament. The cage was far too large and sturdy to try to break out of, especially as a five-year-old. As he scanned the room, he began to hear voices echo through the hallway just beyond the chamber he was in.

"Mixy, we got him." Echoed a weaselly voice.

"Excellent." Responded a high-pitched girl's voice. It was far too high-pitched to be a human. Sam listened in disbelief. He knew that voice. It was the voice of a Tink, or some other kind of fairy. There was nothing else he knew of that had such high-pitched, annoying voices. But fairies weren't that common, and he and Dean had just killed a group. What were the chances there was another group in Port Washington? Or wherever he was now...

"Do you want him now?"

"Absolutely. But Rulin, leave him in the cage. I'm not going to take him to Neverland until I get his brother too. They both need to die. I'll kill them both like they killed my brothers and sisters."

Sam listened knowing exactly who she was talking about and why. They must have forgotten one of the Tinks from Ohio. This was not going to be good for Dean and him. Tinks were never good news, especially one that had a vendetta.

"That's fine, but we won't be here to guard him." Rulin explained. "We're going to be taking care of some business." Sammy heard him chuckle wickedly.

"You mean at the race?" Mixy laughed.

"Like picking apples from a low-hanging tree." Rulin laughed again. "There will be so many kids there just waiting for us to take."

"What about the adults?" Mixy asked.

"What about them?" Rulin sneered. "We'll kill them."

"They won't stop you?"

"That woman just got lucky. This is going to be mostly boys and men. No one's gonna' get lucky wearing the right perfume this time. Nothing will stop us."

"I'll stay here and watch the boy."

"My men and I are heading out now to get things ready for the race. Not one child is going to get away this time."

"You don't need to wait and steal them from their beds?" Mixy asked, sounding excited for the goblins.

"Not anymore. We've got more than enough freshly turned soldiers. Forget the old rules. We're ready to make our own rules."

"That's bold." Mixy giggled.

With that Sammy heard footsteps heading into the room. He pretended to be asleep so that they wouldn't be suspicious of him. Through barely opened eyes, Sam could see a group of goblins heading toward the center of the large chamber, and a Tink fluttering nearby watching them get ready.

The goblin in the purple robe chanted something in weird language. Then he threw the gold dust in the air and it formed a circle. It was a portal. Once the portal was up, all the goblins proceeded through it and were gone.

Then he was alone with the Tink. There was nothing else to distract her. She fluttered her way over to him. "Open your eyes. I know you're awake."

Sammy did as he was told. He was no fool. He could tell when someone was on to him. "Where did they go?"

"I don't know. Once he says those words the dust takes him where he's thinking of in his mind." She rolled her tiny eyes. "But that's not important. Where you're going will be much better. For me, I mean." She giggled. "I'll finally be going home."

"To Neverland?"

"Yes." She smiled wickedly at Sammy. "And you're my ticket there."

"Why me?"

"It didn't have to be you. Any child would do. But I chose you."

"Because we killed the others." Sammy said smugly.

"Yes!" She screeched at him. "You and your giant oaf of a brother murdered my whole family. So now I'm going to kill yours."

"You're a little late for that." Sammy said flatly. "They're all dead."

"Not Dean." Mixy purred his name. "He's still alive and kicking." She licked her lips. "It's going to be so enjoyable taking the life out of his body. You all think you're so prepared to kill my kind because you're so big and strong." She laughed. "Well, you used to be. Now you're just a whiny brat that your brother has to lug around." Sammy looked down at the ground. It wasn't his fault and he knew it. He wasn't dumb. But he did feel useless, like he was a burden for his big brother. "But that's how you feel he is for you. At least, that's how you felt when you were big."

He looked up at the Tink, fury in his eyes. He wasn't really angry at her. She was just telling him the truth. The fury was directed inwardly, at himself. He was the one that thought those terrible things. He was the one that told Dean those awful words. He was the one that made Dean hate himself so much. There was no excuse for that. He couldn't put the blame on the Tink. She was just reporting what he had done.

"I marked you. That's why it has to be you." She continued.

"Marked?"

"Yeah. In order to replenish our power, Tinks need to either absorb it from the magic that exists all around Neverland, or we need to take it from a child."

"Why a child?" Sam asked.

"Because it has to be something connected to magic. Kids still believe in magic. Adults don't, thus severing their connection to it."

"But I'm not really a kid."

"But you're a hunter." She smiled. "You don't need to be convinced into believing in magic. You _know_ it's real."

She placed her hands in front of her and pointed at Sammy. Suddenly he started to feel dizzy and tired. He felt like all his energy was leaving him. As he looked up he could see a strange distortion in the air, like when you're driving in the heat of summer and you think you see mirages on the road, running from him and going to her.

"My!" She sighed loudly. "You're better than I thought. Something in you is dark. It's twisted and evil, but so _powerful_!" She smiled like she had never been so full of villainous joy. "With all this power, Dean won't be a problem to kill. Even with that other man."

"You're out of your league." Sammy scoffed at her. "You don't stand a chance."

"We'll see about that." She said heading away. "I'll get him. But not until the time is right."

"What's that mean?"

"I want him to fail. I want him to watch Rulin take all the kids. I want him to know that he let the families down. I want him to know that he let you down, and that it was your power that made it possible for me to kill him."

With those words leaving Sammy in a depressed state, she floated out of the room. But he had gotten all the information he had needed from her. _So it's just wherever you're thinking about? But I don't know where Dean is. Does Dean count as a place?_

With determination, Sam cleared his head and thought of nothing other than his brother. It felt nice. He missed him so much. He thought of his dirty-blonde hair that he cared way too much about. He thought of his freckles. Of his goofy grin. His perpetually stubbled face. He thought about his strong arms. With the thought seared wonderfully into his brain and into his heart, he tossed what golden dust he had in his pocket into the air. This had to work!


	27. Chapter 27

**Chapter 27**

Dean lounged standing, his butt against the small room's refrigerator thinking about the lore that Clark and he had gone over per Sam's highlighting. He lifted his beer bottle toward his mouth when suddenly it fell from his hand and crashed against the floor. Replacing the small vessel of alcohol was something much heavier. He quickly brought his second arm up to support the new weight.

As Dean looked at the weight in his arms, his face showed immediate relief mixed with profound confusion. In his arms was his kid brother, clad in only a pair of Superman briefs and an immensely over-sized jacket. "Sammy?" Dean asked, not really wondering if it was him. He knew it was. If there was anything in this world that Dean knew, it was his brother. He just didn't understand how he was there.

Sammy just smiled like a kid that just got every Christmas gift on his list and squeezed Dean as tightly as he could, an effort that Dean reciprocated, pulling Sam in so tightly the kid almost felt like he couldn't breathe. Somehow he didn't care. He was just happy to see his big brother again.

"Hey Dean." Sammy whispered into his brother's ear, his breath tickling the older Winchester.

"I was so worried! We looked everywhere!" Dean spoke the words, relief dripping from each one.

"I know you did."

"Where were you?" Dean asked.

"I'm not sure. They are goblins and they travel through portals. The portals are made from that golden dust, and they leave it behind when they close."

"But you couldn't tell where it took you?"

"I don't think it was even in this city. I'm not positive it was even in this world." Sammy chuckled nervously a bit. "When we exited the portal we were in some big chamber like the dungeon of an old castle or something. There were torches lining the walls and piles of gold everywhere, like big ones."

"Like Smaug big or Scrooge McDuck big?" Dean asked.

"Scrooge." Sam said plainly. Clark gave the brothers an odd look. Who describes things like that?

"Wow." Dean's face showed impress. "Did you steal any?"

Sam gave Dean an irritated face that made Dean feel like he was looking at the adult Sam for a moment. It was amazing. In his transformation into a child, he had lost everything he had known as an adult except his remarkable ability to do research and his unrivaled ability to look at Dean like he was some moron. Somehow, it never really bothered Dean. He thought it was kinda' funny pestering his brother.

"How'd you get out?" Clark asked. Both brothers looked over, almost like they had forgotten he was there.

"Well, they put me in a golden cage. It was like a birdcage. There were more, and children were in them. Unfortunately, not all the children are still there." Sam explained through sad eyes. It was never easy as a hunter dealing with the fact that you can't save everyone. It was amplified when the victims were defenseless children.

"You think they're dead?" Dean asked, sounding hopeful.

"I'm not totally convinced they are." Sammy looked back and forth from Clark to Dean. "When I was there I ran into Chandler, the kid from the house where we found the first golden dust."

"He's alive?" Dean asked, sounding relieved.

"For now." Sam said, his words sucking all the optimism out of the room. "But the goblins are doing something to them. Chandler said that there used to be another boy in the cage next to him, but they took him, and when the goblins returned, there was an extra one and he was wearing some of the kid's clothes."

"So they're turning kids into goblins, or they just like sharing wardrobes?" Dean asked, trying to alleviate some of the pressure in the room.

"He thinks they're turning kids into goblins."

"And you?"

"I couldn't say. I didn't see anything while there. But we've seen weirder."

Dean rolled his eyes with a smirk. "Yeah, but that's not saying much anymore. We've pretty much seen it all."

"Anything else?" Clark asked, sounding like he wanted to stay on task. His level of professionalism was in stark contrast to Dean's constant sarcasm and quips. Sammy couldn't help but be glad that he hunted with a brother who could so often make light of terrible situations. If Dean was always as serious as Clark was, Sammy wasn't sure he'd have been able to last in this lifestyle as long as he had.

"Yeah." Sammy said, sounding a bit less than enthusiastic to get back on topic. He was enjoying goofing off a bit with Dean. "First of all, they mentioned that they were going to launch a full-on kidnapping assault at that adult-child marathon thing in the woods."

"Seriously?" Dean asked. "They just told you that?"

Sam rolled his eyes. "No, Dean. They didn't just 'tell me that'." He made his voice sound a bit stupid as he mockingly imitated Dean's deep voice. "They thought I was asleep when they were explaining the plan to each other."

"That's convenient." Clark said.

"If being kidnapped and locked away in a golden cage sounds convenient, then I guess so." Sam said, sounding a bit offended at Clark's comment.

"Fair point." Clark backed off.

"Anyway, there's more." Sam said, looking back at Dean.

"What?" The older brother asked, concerned because of the way Sammy was looking at him. His eyes were big and a bit worried looking.

Sammy sighed. "There's a Tink with them."

"Seriously? How many Tinks are we gonna' run into in one week?"

"That's the thing." Sam leaned in and whispered to Dean. "She's from Ohio. We missed her."

Dean sighed. Suddenly he was feeling like a failure as a hunter. It was there job to finish jobs, not leave them open like this. Who knows what damage a Tink could do. Dean wasn't sure the extent of the fairy's power, but he knew that a Tink was no joke. "At least we know she's here."

"She was working with the goblins."

"Who was?" Clark asked, not enjoying being left out of the conversation.

"A Tink." Dean said plainly.

"What's that? Like Tinkerbell?"

"Exactly...kinda'." Dean said, a bit confused by his own words. "They're fairies is what I meant."

"Fairies exist?"

"Hell yes, they do." Dean breathed out heavily and adjusted Sammy in his arms. "And they're bad news. They've got powers that you would never believe were real."

"I'm guessing they're responsible for Sammy's small stature?" Clark asked.

"Sam." Sammy corrected the man firmly. "Only he can call me Sammy."

"Right." Clark placed his hands up in surrender. "Sorry."

"And yes, she is specifically the one that did this to me."

"Then I say we gank her." Dean said angrily. "I promised I'd get you back to normal and I will."

"Will killing her return Sammy- Sam, back to normal?" Clark asked. Both brothers looked at him like he had just said the most forbidden words on this earth. "I'm just saying..."

"It better. I don't know what else we'd do." Dean sighed and looked at Sammy, desperate for help.

Sammy just shrugged. "Don't ask me. We gotta' kill her either way."

"What if you stay trapped as a five-year-old?" Dean asked.

"Then I guess you'll have a kid to raise."

Dean smirked with a small chuckle. "Great. Just what I always wanted. To re-raise my brother."

"Anyway, she's marked me she said."

"What's that mean?" Clark asked, unsure of any of this fairy business.

"It's something a fairy has to do to recharge their magical ability apart from being in Neverland."

"Neverland's real?" Clark looked dumbfounded.

"Yes. It's where they're from. Since I'm marked that means she can drain me for her power."

"Does it hurt?" Dean asked, sounding overly concerned for his kid brother. Like he had just heard that he was being bullied on the playground. Sammy remembered the one time he made the mistake of telling Dean that he was being bullied. Dean had been an early bloomer and was significantly bigger than most the other kids his age, let alone the kids Sammy's age. Dean had found the bully and his little gang and had beat the snot out of them, succeeding in scaring the gang away from Sammy, embarrassing Sammy, and infuriating the families. They were practically lined up to speak with the principal. Dad ended up having to transfer them to a different school, which wasn't a big deal since they were going to leave once the hunt was done anyway.

"No, at least there's no pain. But she did only drain me a bit, so I don't know. I'm not sure if it does any kind of damage to my body."

"So how did you get out? Clark asked.

"Yeah, so after the fairy drained me she left. She said she didn't want to kill me until Dean could watch."

"Bitch." Dean grumbled.

Sammy rolled his eyes, something he was very familiar with doing when Dean was involved in things. "Right, so after she left I remembered I had put some of that golden dust in my jacket pocket when we found it at Chandler's house." Sammy stared at Dean. "So I thought of you. Then I threw the golden dust, spoke the magic incantation, and the portal appeared. I jumped in it, and the next thing I knew I was here in your arms."

"How'd you know the incantation?" Clark asked, sounding impressed.

"It's Sammy." Dean said, practically beaming pride. "There's nothing he doesn't know." Sammy smiled at him. "He's a geek. A nerd." The smiled dissolved into a mockingly angry frown. Dean winked at him, knowing that Sammy liked all the big brother pestering he did.

"So now what?" Clark asked, itching to get to work.

"You're a man of business, aren't you?" Dean asked with a smile.

"People are dying. I gotta' be."

"Fair enough. What do we do now, Sammy?"

Sammy smiled to Dean and looked back at Clark. "Well, first thing's first. I think we need to go to the marathon and protect those kids. Dean, you and I can enter. Clark can stand by, ready to fight."

"Okay, but how do we kill them?" Clark asked.

"I'm not sure, but I think I have a clue." Sammy explained. "I overheard them complaining about the kid who got away, Tyler. They said that he just got lucky because of the perfume his mom was wearing. We gotta' figure out what was in that perfume. That could be the weapon to use against them."

"So we go talk to his mom?" Dean asked.

"Exactly." Sammy nodded his head. "But we only have a day until the marathon. It starts tomorrow afternoon. So we gotta' figure out what kills them, acquire it, and prepare it for use. Then we gotta' get there, sign up, and-"

"Save the world." Dean chimed in.

Sammy smiled at him. "Exactly."

"And the Tink?" Clark asked.

"The Tink can wait. We gotta' stop the goblins from stealing the kids." Sam explained. "Then we gotta' go back to their lair or whatever it is, and rescue the kids there."

"What about the kids that were turned into goblins?" Dean asked. "Can we save them?"

Sammy shrugged. "I'm not sure."

"Maybe Bobby knows?" Clark said in a questioning tone.

Dean smiled. "He's our go-to man. We'll give him a call." Dean put Sammy down. "Get dressed. First thing's first. We visit Carol Barkley."


	28. Chapter 28

**Chapter 28**

They took the Impala back to Carol's house. Dean looked in his rear-view mirror and saw his kid brother sitting there, feet not able to touch the ground, bobbing his head to _Enter Sandman_ by Metallica. It was like something from the _Twilight Zone_. The feelings that being a big brother brought flooded over Dean like a tidal wave. He wanted to shield him from all that would threaten him. He wanted to provide for him everything he would ever need. He wanted give him everything he would ever enjoy. And most importantly, he wanted to make sure that he knew he was loved.

Sadly, Dean knew he was in no position to do most of those things. He never had been. They had grown up without a home. Without money. Without toys. Without entertainment. Their childhoods had been full of grief, violence, blood, and revenge. Dean felt like a boxer trapped in the ring against life, or maybe it was fate. Whatever it was was pummeling Dean. He felt like no matter how many jabs he threw, life or fate always threw more, and they hit harder. He wasn't sure how much longer he could stay in the ring before the referee had to call it. K.O. Even now, Sammy had a second chance at being a kid, kinda', and still grief, violence, blood, and revenge were rearing their heads.

His thoughts brought him a little bit closer to possibly understanding why it was that Sammy was so open to trusting Ruby, a full-on demon. They had grown up with no friends. No families. It was just Sam and him. Sammy had never had any friends. He had no one other than Dean to enjoy life with. Everyone knows that everybody needs a break from even their best friend to spend time with someone else. Maybe this need for someone else played a part in Sammy being so open to Ruby. Despite being a demon, and despite undoubtedly having a wicked agenda, she was treating Sammy nicely. At least on the outside. Dean knew that she was truly just using Sammy. Or at least he had a very strong suspicion. No demon was kind. Not truly kind.

Amazed at his ability to drive somewhere without actually thinking about it, Dean parked the Impala on the street in front of the Barkly house. "Wait here." He ordered Clark. "She knows Sammy and me."

Dean got Sammy out of the backseat, wrapped his coat up tightly around him, and marched the two of them up to the door. Dean scanned the area. It was definitely creeping into the end of autumn. The weather was cold, probably miserably cold for scrawny Sammy. The trees were nearing the end of their colorful season, preparing to die and be stripped bare by the unrelenting winds of Lake Michigan. As Sammy pressed the doorbell, they stood awkwardly at the front door, unsure of whether the doorbell even worked or not.

Sammy smiled up at Dean when they heard the sound of heels clicking across the wooden floors within. Someone was coming, and it was probably Carol. The heels stopped on the other side of the door and the Winchesters straightened up, trying to look presentable.

The door swung slowly open and the smiling face of Carol greeted them. "Hello. You're back?"

Dean smiled shyly. "Yeah, sorry to bother you."

"It's no bother." She smiled warmly at them, a welcomed gesture in the cold season. "Can I help you?"

"I hope so." Dean led in. "This is kinda' weird sounding, we know, but it may be important."

"Okay…" She said, practically begging for Dean to fill her in on this 'odd' thing he had come to tell her.

"It has come to knowledge that it is possible that the kidnapper has allergies." Dean explained. "Some even think that the reason that Tyler was left alone was because something in the house, maybe something you were wearing, like a perfume, caused a rather severe allergic reaction to the criminal."

"Is that even possible?" She asked, sounding surprised by the news.

"I'm not sure, but if the police think it's a possibility, then I'd be a failed P.I. if I didn't even look into it." Dean smiled at her, trying to look kind. "Do you remember, were you wearing any scented perfume that night?"

Carol shrugged. "I wish I could tell you for sure." Dean nodded his understanding. "I can say that I wear perfume just about every single day. I put it on in the morning. It's just part of my morning routine to get ready for the day." Dean nodded, getting a little bit more hopeful. "So there's a good chance I was wearing perfume."

"Do you know what kind?"

She chuckled a bit. "Lucky for you, I'm a pretty simple gal. I only own one scent and it's the only kind I ever buy."

Sammy smiled. "That is lucky."

"No kidding." Dean smiled.

"It's lavender." She put her finger in the air. "Wait one second. I'll show you its bottle."

They kept their meeting with Carol brief. She brought down her perfume bottle and offered it to the boys to keep. They had both thanked her and were on their way back to the Impala, moving briskly through the cold Wisconsin weather. Once back in the Impala, Dean handed the bottle back to Sammy.

"What's the key ingredient?" Dean asked.

Sammy stared at the ingredients list. There were like 100 different things in the perfume. "I'm not sure. There's too many ingredients, but I'm guessing since it's called _Lovin' Lavender_ , the ingredient we're looking for is lavender."

"That would make sense." Clark piped up. He looked back at the younger brother. "On your websites, one of the points you highlighted was that goblins had an aversion to lavender. I thought it sounded silly, but these two clues kinda' match up. Maybe it's not as silly as I thought."

Dean nodded his head. "Nothing's silly in this line of work. The most dangerous creatures are afraid of some of the most harmless things. Hell, think of demons." He looked back at Sammy who was nodding with a smirk. "Salt and some water. The enemy of biblical monsters." He laughed some.

"So now we pick up some more of this perfume and head over to the race?" Clark asked.

"I guess so." Dean answered, pulling the Impala out into the street and toward the store.


	29. Chapter 29

**Chapter 29**

They returned to the motel with plenty of time to spare before bed. Dean, Clark, and Sammy all were more than happy to get back into the warm indoors and out of the cold, dreary weather of Port Washington. They unloaded the perfume they bought, as well as the lavenders and prepared to make a concentrated lavender spray that would hopefully work against the goblins like the concoction that Bobby had given them for the Tinks.

"You're sure this will work?" Clark asked as he began preparing the mixture.

"Bobby said it should, so that's as good as we're gonna' get until we try it." Dean said. Clark nodded his head. It was hard to argue against that. It's not like any of this stuff was science. The best indicator they could have at this point was the way-too-knowledgeable Bobby.

Dean and Clark sat for over an hour working on the mixtures and were getting nowhere fast. It took a long time to let the water soak the lavender essence out of the flowers so that it could be mixed in with the perfume in the spray bottles. Dean was just glad Clark was around to help. Sammy was being a kid, unable to help and more interested in Spongebob Squarepants than anything else at the moment.

"I'm bored." Sammy said as the credits rolled for the most recent episode of the irritating cartoon he had watched.

"Sorry, Sammy." Dean said through gritted teeth. It was the first time Sammy had voiced his boredom, but not the first time he had made it known. Ever since they had started working the kid had been sighing, shuffling his feet around, moping around with deflated shoulders, and acting disinterested in everything. Clark maybe didn't notice Sam's silent complaints, but the kid may as well have been screaming to Dean. It was the problem with being a big brother. You hear everything from your younger sibling, even the things unsaid.

"Can't we do something?" Sammy whined, looking at his brother with pleading eyes.

"No. We have to work. It'd go a lot faster if you'd help." Dean scolded him. Sammy just sighed in return.

"Can I go outside?"

"No."

"Why not?"

Dean's irritation was beginning to take over. "Because, Sammy…" His voice was seething with irritation, just shy of exploding into a shout. Before he could finish his sentence, Clark spoke up.

"Y'know, Dean. I saw a playground just a couple blocks down. Why not take him there to play?" Clark suggested. "He can loosen up a bit and work off all his energy and I'll come get you when this is all done. Then we can grab some dinner."

Dean looked at Clark like he had just committed mutiny. He had just made Dean look like the bad guy in front of his little brother. Dean just shook his head in defeat. "Fine." Was all he said.

Sam's face lit up like the sun at daybreak. "Really?" He shouted, already grabbing his shoes.

"Yes, really." Dean said, trying not to smirk or show any sign of joy in this decision. He hated that Sammy always got his way. It had been like this their whole life. Dean never got what he wanted. He was always treated like an adult with the you-can't-always-get-what-you-want attitude from his Dad. But not Sammy. Sammy had something magical about him, it seemed. All he had to do was arch those cute lips up into a smile and give his big pleading puppy-dog eyes and he'd get anything and everything he wanted. And here, as a 25-year-old kid, he still got everything he wanted.

The drive to the playground was short. Clark had been right; it was only a couple blocks down the road. Fortunately, it had stopped raining and the playground wasn't too wet or muddy. It was still cold, though. Colder than Dean cared to be out in. He sighed and watched as his breath escaped his lips in a flurry of steam, like dragon's breath.

"Can I go down the slide?" Sammy asked excited. Dean looked at him confused. It was still was so weird to have a kid brother who was asking for permission. The adult Sam couldn't care less if he had Dean's permission or not. If he did, then he certainly wouldn't be hanging with Ruby or drinking demon's blood. Dean smiled to the kid.

"Knock yourself out." He went and sat down on the cold metal bench and watched as little Sammy ran over to the slide. It looked like Sam must have thought the slide was just the coolest thing on this earth. He was so excited!

Dean watched as the kid climbed the ladder warily and sat at the top. "Dean!" He shouted.

"What?" Dean hollered back.

"Watch me go down!" Sammy yelled as he slid down the slide with his hands in the air like he was on some roller-coaster. When he got to the bottom and planted his feet on the ground, he bolted back to Dean. Through deep breaths he smiled at Dean with excitement. "Did you see me?"

Dean genuinely smiled and laughed at the kid. "Yes, I saw you."

"Can I go again?"

"Go for it." Dean watched as Sammy repeated the same actions again, still insisting that Dean watched him as he went down, like it was some impressive feat. Dean cheered for him as he reached the bottom. He could get used to having such a carefree, innocent little brother again. It was draining having a destined-demon-leader brother tagging along with him.

"Can I go swing?" Sammy asked.

"Go for it." Dean said, thinking about the differences between kid Sammy and adult Sam. Kid Sammy was definitely more fun. Or at least, that's initially what Dean thought. But then he realized that he missed having his giant brother sitting beside him in the Impala. He missed having someone to talk to about grown-up stuff. He missed having a drinking buddy. He missed having a wing-man, though in some ways, a kid might work even better. He missed being able to pass the task of driving over to someone else to catch up on some sleep. He missed having a partner.

However, even though he missed all that, there were some refreshing things about having a kid brother again. For one, he never stopped telling Dean how cool he was and how much he loved him. He was mostly obedient. He was easy to control. He was cheaper to feed. Dean thought about it. It sounded more like he was listing the good things about a pet he had. He didn't need an obedient brother. He needed a genuine brother. The more he wanted an obedient Sammy the more he would become just like Dad, and that was _not_ something he wanted to do. All things considered, Dean came to the strong realization that, though it was refreshing in some ways to get to spend some time with innocent, cute, little Sammy, ultimately, he just wanted his big little brother back.

As he focused back to the real world he realized Sammy was still standing in front of him, just staring at his feet, like he wanted something but wasn't comfortable bringing it up. Dean looked at him confused. "I said you could swing." Sam just nodded . He turned and slowly made his way to the swings looking totally deflated and upset. _What did I say?_ Dean wasn't sure what was wrong with Sammy.

Sammy sat on the swing. No swinging was happening. He was just sitting there. "Sammy, you need me to push you or something?" Dean hollered.

"I can swing myself." Sam said, sounding upset.

Dean sighed and muttered to himself. "What the hell's wrong this time?" As he began to stand to go see what was wrong with Sammy, the kid jumped off the swing and came back over.

"What's wrong, Sammy?"

"I know how to swing." Sam said.

"Then why didn't you?"

"I was waiting for you."

"I asked if you needed me to help you."

"I didn't need help, Dean."

Dean looked at Sammy, unsure of how to react. The kid didn't need help. He just wanted Dean. Dean spent so much time worrying about taking care of Sammy and making sure he was safe that sometimes he forgot that one of, if not the most important part of being a brother was being a friend. And even more, a partner. Sammy didn't need his help, not this time. He just wanted his big brother to play with him.

"Why won't you swing with me?" Sammy looked like he was about to cry.

"I didn't say-"

"Are you going to leave me?" Sammy was now full-on crying. Dean's eyes went big. What on earth was Sammy talking about? What brought this on?

"Of course not." Dean said, kneeling down to Sammy's level. "Why would I leave you?"

"Because." Sammy cried.

"Because why?" Dean looked at Sammy's puffy eyes. Tears were flowing out of them freely.

"Because of Ruby. And the blood." Sammy cried. "Are you going to leave me?"

"Have I ever left you?" Dean asked.

Sammy sniffled and cried. "At the swings." Dean couldn't believe what he was hearing. That was considered him leaving Sammy?

"I was right here watching over you."

"But you weren't with me."

"I'm not going to leave you."

"But you hate me because of Ruby. Because she's a demon. And you hate me because of the demon blood."

"I don't hate you." Dean said softly. "I don't like that you hang out with a demon and drink her blood." Man, it sounded even worse when he said it out loud. He paused, thinking about how twisted that all sounded.

"Yes you do." Sammy cried. "You hate me."

Dean felt tears forming in his own eyes. "No." He looked firmly at Sammy who froze in his gaze. "No, Sammy. I don't hate you. I never will. I will never leave you, either. You're my little brother. I will take care of you."

"So no matter what you'll always be here?" Sammy stared at Dean as if his response would either kill Sammy or give him life.

"Yes. I've been right by your side your whole life. I've been before you to lead you, behind you to encourage you, beside you to comfort you, and under you to lift you up. Sammy, you're my life. You always have been. I will always be here for you." Dean couldn't ignore just how sappy he sounded, but at the moment it didn't seem to matter. What mattered was his little brother having a melt-down right in front of him. His little brother who was trembling at the thought of his big brother ditching him. He was what mattered, not the cheesy reassurance coming from Dean's mouth. He thought about it some. It definitely wasn't the reassurance that was cheesy. That was genuine brotherly love. Only the words were cheesy, but hell, Dean never claimed to be a poet.

"You still love me?"

"I still love you."

Sammy's face cleared up as relief washed over him. He was so happy he practically jumped into Dean's arms for a hug. But what surprised Dean more was the small peck on the cheek Sammy gave him.

"What was that for?" Dean asked through a light chuckle.

"It's cuz I love you." Sammy smiled. Dean had nothing to say in return. He simply smiled back. They were brothers. Nothing more was needed to be said. He gave Sammy a peck on his head. He was just glad Bobby wasn't there or he'd never hear the end of it.

Dean and Sammy both jumped from fright as a voice spoke up from behind Dean. "You guys ready for dinner?" They both looked over at Clark who was standing behind them. Dean smiled at him. Clark smiled back, but something about it seemed fake.

"You okay?" Dean asked.

"Peachy," Clark said. "Besides being hungry, that is." He laughed a bit. "The potions, or perfumes, or whatever you want to call them are ready. They're back at the motel."

"Great. Thanks for doing that." Dean said.

"Yeah, thanks!" Sammy said a bit more loudly than he needed to through a beaming smile. "We had so much fun!"

"Anything for the famous Winchesters." Clark said through a smile. "Let's eat."


	30. Chapter 30

**Chapter 30**

Chandler woke up, surprised that he had managed to fall asleep at all. Despite it all, he still felt tired and sore. He would give anything to be out of his cage and back with his family. He winced as he stood up. His muscles were sore and cramped up. "Hey, Sam. Have you-" He stopped as he noticed the cage that was supposed to be holding the new kid was empty.

"Oh crap." He said to no one in particular. They must have taken him. Maybe they were turning him into some hideous monster like they had Jason. Chandler hadn't known the kid very long, but he was too young to have to suffer like this. He was too young to be taken away from his parents. Chandler kicked himself for being so thoughtless in his thoughts. Ironic. Sam's parents were dead. He had told him that. He wasn't taken from them. They were taken from him. He was taken from his older brother.

Chandler watched as a group of goblins marched into the room. They inspected the cages, bringing some sort of nasty looking stew for the remaining kids to eat. However, once they reached the cage Sam was held in, they dropped a bowl of stew and seemed to begin panicking. That caught Chandler off-guard.

 _Maybe they hadn't taken Sam? Maybe he had gotten away._ The thought seemed crazy, that a five-year-old could get away, but an eight-year-old couldn't. _Maybe his big brother had come and saved him. But he promised he'd save me too…_ He sighed loudly and tried to hold back tears. For some reason the seemingly empty promises of some kid's big brother running to their rescue had birthed some sort of hope within Chandler. He wasn't sure why. The kid was a stranger with dreams of rescue that weren't grounded in any sort of rational thinking. _So much for promises…_ Even worse. _So much for ever getting out of here…_ Chandler slumped back onto his butt in his cage. All hope died with Sam. He was stuck here and there was no one that was going to help him. That was now clear. He may as well resign to becoming one of the ugly monsters. What other choice did he have?


	31. Chapter 31

**Chapter 31**

Dean drove the group back to the motel from the diner. It had been an awkward dinner. Clark hadn't stopped staring at Sammy the entire meal. It was like he was staring at an alien or something. Dean had to admit, it was weird looking at the kid version of his big little brother, but Clark never knew him as an adult. How weird could it really be for him?

They got back to the motel and lounged. Dean stared at his kid brother. He sighed. Something, maybe it was having a kid brother again, was making him stressed and emotional. Maybe it was dealing with his dad's death. He just couldn't figure out why, but for some reason his emotions were boiling up and he hated it. Clark was going to think he was some kind of wuss.

As he stared at Sammy, he couldn't help but struggle with mixed feelings about tomorrow. In theory, they were going to put an end to the goblins, restore Sammy to his rightful age and size, and rescue any kids still missing. Sounded easy, but it wouldn't be. The toughest part wasn't dealing with the actual hunt. Not for Dean. Not today. No, today the struggle for Dean was more about Sammy than it was about hunting. Dean knew that if they restored Sammy back to his adult self, then he could say good-bye to all the fun he'd been having with the kid. He could say good-bye to hearing Sam tell him he loved him. There would be no more sleeping with his kid brother, which secretly, though he'd never admit it, was a great comfort to Dean. Plus, on top of all the things that he'd miss out on, he also knew that Sam would be back with Ruby and back on demon's blood. Dean couldn't help but wonder if it would be better to leave Sammy a kid.

He sighed. He knew there really wasn't a choice in the matter. It was unnatural for Sammy to be a kid, plus the monsters needed to be put down. They were terrorizing and kidnapping innocent people. But Dean was going to miss the love Sammy was giving him. Or at least, the apparent love. The love of five-year-old Sammy. Dean wasn't sure if Sammy really loved him anymore. He never gave any indication of it. All Sammy ever did nowadays was keep secrets from him, sneak away at night, disobey Dean's commands, hang out with a demon, and get himself doped up on demon's blood. Most the words from Sam's mouth were condescending and offensive to Dean. Dean bit his lower lip. There was really no reason for him to think that Sam loved him. He could tell himself that it was because they were blood, but Sammy had already proven that blood meant nothing to him. He did that when he ditched Dad and him to go to college, leaving Dean alone with Dad. He never even called. After all Dean had done and sacrificed for him, he never even called. So really, what reason had Dean to believe that Sam loved him?

Dean noticed Sammy yawning and looked at him with sad eyes. He was somehow going to miss taking care of the kid. But at the same time, he missed having a partner. He missed having a friend. But he knew, as much as he wished it wasn't true, that even if he was restored to an adult, back to the proper age to be a friend again, he wouldn't be. He'd be Ruby's friend. Despite all Dean did for him, he'd leave again. He hadn't been his friend since they were kids. That was probably why Dean thought he could get used to having the little version around so much.

"Tired?" Dean asked. Sammy rubbed his eyes and nodded. It had been a long day, especially for a kid. "Let's get to bed, then." Dean smacked his hands down on his knees and forced himself to stand up. Dean pretended not to notice that Clark was still staring at Sam like he was some creature from the far regions of space. His whole attitude worried Dean. It was like that moment you walk by a particularly scary Halloween trick-or-treater, the one wearing the really frightening outfit, and even though you figure there's no reason to be scared, you still get this worried feeling. As if the person might do something. Dean wasn't sure what he should do. Was Clark okay? Should he ask or would that be a bad idea. Dean sighed. When trick-or-treating the guy in question never actually does anything. Dean figured there was nothing to worry about.

Dean made Sammy brush his teeth and get ready. Dean followed him into the bathroom and brushed his teeth as well, standing heads taller than the kid, careful not to drool on his moppy head. He turned on the water and they both spit, something that made Dean feel like he was living with his family again. A feeling he knew wouldn't last past tomorrow if everything went as they planned.

They both stripped down to their underwear, both briefs, but Sammy's were fun, new Superman ones. Dean's were just plain blue, old, tattered ones. They both climbed into the too-small bed together. Dean made sure he had his loaded gun under his pillow and wrapped his arms around Sammy's small body, pulling him in tight against his front. Dean rested his head above Sammy's on the pillow they were sharing and stared at Clark. "Good night."

"Night." Clark said, avoiding eye-contact. He flipped the lights off and crawled into bed as well.

It wasn't long before Sammy was sleep-breathing and looking totally at peace. It was an appearance that vividly contrasted his older brother's look. Dean was lying still, holding Sammy, and ready to reach for his gun. Clark was lying still, snoring, but somehow Dean still felt like he was staring at that trick-or-treater. Something felt off. Something felt… dangerous. Dean kept quiet and watched over his brother. Whether it was justified or not, he wasn't sure, but Dean knew he wouldn't be getting any sleep tonight. He was on guard duty. Even if Sammy didn't love him, he loved Sammy, and he was not about to let anyone do anything to him.


	32. Chapter 32

**Chapter 32**

Dean pulled the Impala up to the parking lot near the edge of the woods outside of town. There was a registration table, tables with various merchandise that a runner might need, such as water bottles, clothing, energy bars, and more, and there was a restroom. They exited the car and prepared themselves for another day's work. Dean looked at little Sammy as he practically had to jump out of the back seat because his feet couldn't touch the ground. This fight was more than just a typical fight. This fight could be the one that either left Sammy a kid again, or restored him back to his adult self. It was a pretty big deal.

Dean and Clark had already discussed the plan. Dean and Sammy would sign up for the race. Meanwhile, Clark would be hiding out in the woods with the sprays. Sam and Dean had GPS trackers that they would attach to their clothes so that Clark could know where they were at all times that way he'd be ready once something happened.

Overall it was a pretty simple plan, but not a bad one. Sam and he had accomplished a lot more with a lot less. The only problem Dean could see with this plan was that it involved him running... and not just running, but running in those awkward short running shorts that barely went low enough to cover everything a man needed covered, plus he'd have his kid brother attached to him.

Clark gathered all their supplies they would need into a bag and nodded to Dean. "I got the bottles, guns, and the bullets dipped in both the goblin and the fairy poisons. Sound good?" Dean nodded back. It was time to put this simple plan into action, though, Dean felt like they needed a lot of fingers crossed. There was, after all, no guarantee that the goblins would show up, or that they could even catch up to them, or that the perfume spray would work. But, hey, they had done more with less.

"You ready for this?" Dean asked his brother. It was a pointless question since Sammy looked like he was about to explode from excitement.

"Yes!" He exclaimed with eagerness. "I love races!" Dean knew that was true. Sammy was always turning everything into a race when he was little. He'd turn brushing teeth into a race, changing into PJs, making lunch, taking baths. It was always a race.

"Okay, We gotta' buy some clothes and then we'll be ready." Dean led Sammy to the stand where they were selling overpriced running gear. Unfortunately, at least at the moment, Dean and Sam had always been jeans and boots kinda' guys. That meant he needed to buy everything. The skin-tight compression tank tops, the shorty shorts, and even the shoes. It sucked, but at least they were selling everything. Otherwise they'd have had to go back to that awful store. That was something Dean would be happy never to do again.

They both went up to the stand and Dean perused the running gear. He couldn't believe what he was about to buy, and even worse, wear. But they had to blend in. Given that they had already captured Sammy once, they were probably aware that they were being hunted. They couldn't stand out from the crowd.

Dean bought Sam and him almost matching outfits. He got them both way-too-short black running shorts, black and red running shoes in their appropriate sizes, and running tank tops. The children's tank tops were normal cotton, but the adults were nylon and skin tight, just like Dean liked 'em...not. The tank tops were red and black. He looked at the apparel and was proud of himself. No one could say that he didn't know how to make a matching outfit. Or at least, he hoped they matched...

"Let's go get changed." Dean said reluctantly as he led Sammy to the bathrooms.

They both went into one of the handicapped stalls so that there would be room for them both to change. Dean knelt down onto the nasty floor and undid Sammy's fly button and helped him out of his clothes.

Once his little brother stood in just his underwear, Dean began dressing him like an oversized athletic Ken doll. The clothes didn't fit Sammy all that well, but they should work enough for the race. Dean figured he'd be carrying Sammy most of it. He figured there was no way a five-year-old would be able to run the full five miles. The race was more aimed toward parents with older kids, but they needed to be here. Not for the exercise or the fun, but for everyone's safety, especially the children.

With Sammy all ready and examining his clothing, Dean shifted his attention to himself. He looked warily at the short shorts and skin-tight tank and felt some anxiety. He wasn't typically the most outgoing guy. Sure, nothing embarrassed him in front of Sammy. Dean laughed recalling the time that Sammy had walked in on him having sex with that one blonde before he went to Hell. Dean had invited him to join them. He was joking, of course. He didn't really want Sam to join them, but Sam had seen things that he probably never should have, and it didn't bother Dean at all. Nothing about Sam could be embarrassing to Dean. However, Sam had left the room in a hurry with some glowing red cheeks. He was lit up like Rudolph's nose as he slammed the door behind him, leaving Dean laughing hysterically.

The problem here wasn't that Sam would see him in his athletic Daisy-Dukes. No, the problem was that everyone else would. With bitter feelings toward all people who enjoyed jogging enough to set the standard of running clothes to these short shorts, Dean slipped his pants and shirt off and sighed heavily.

"You okay?" Sammy asked, eyeing his brother up and down. Dean looked down at him with an unsure face. He wasn't really sure if he was okay. It wasn't just the clothes. He'd get over the embarrassment of the clothes. It was everything else. It was his relationship with Sam, the real Sam, the adult Sam. It was Ruby. It was demon's blood. It was his need to be loved and a brother that didn't seem to hold any for him. It was the uncertainty of their future together. It was Clark and his weird faces. It was goblins and missing children. It was... everything.

Dean shook his head. The list was far too long to answer Sammy's innocent question with just one simple word, but they didn't have the luxury of time to have one of Dean's beloved chick-flick moments. One word would have to suffice.

"Yeah." Dean said through a heavy breath.

"Need help?"

"With what?" Dean looked at Sammy confused. He was getting worried about Sammy too. He had been acting more and more like a kid recently with less moments of adulthood poking through. He was worried that the longer it took to restore him, the more permanent his child attitude would be. Despite the obvious problem that was, in some ways it brought some joy to Dean. Sam was such a fun, adorable kid.

Sammy laughed brightly. "Getting dressed." He giggled more as he looked at Dean. "I see London, I see France. I see Dean's underpants."

Dean laughed. "Don't make me sit on you in these underpants."

Sam's eyes went big. "No!" He said through a big grin. Dean laughed heartily as well. He then pulled the shorts on and just about died. They were so short. Way too short! He was lucky he had worn his briefs today, because the shorts were definitely shorter than his boxers. He pulled the tank-top on with some difficulty. It was so tight! He looked down at himself. _Thank goodness I'm fit..._ He could feel his cheeks turning red as he noticed the thing was so tight that his nipples and belly-button were clearly visible through the material.

"How's it look?" Dean asked. "Do I look ridiculous?" He waited for Sammy to laugh.

Sammy just shook his head. "No. It makes you look really strong!"

"How?" Dean asked with a confused grin.

"Cuz I can see your legs and arms."

Dean looked at himself as best he could. Sammy wasn't totally lying. A life of hunting and running after things did tend to get you into shape, at least if you did it like the Winchesters. He flexed and saw an impressive mound of muscle bulge upward on his biceps. His legs were no joke either, just a bit on the hairy side, but Sammy just said that made him look manly. Maybe he was right. Somehow, none of it made Dean feel any better about going out in public dressed like this.

"You ready?" He asked Sammy.

"Yeah!" Sam smiled. "What are we doing?"

"We're gonna' race, but we're a team."

Sammy's face lit up like Dean had just revealed the best secret ever. "I get to be on your team?!"

Dean couldn't help but smile. He loved how much little Sammy loved him. If only it were real... He still knew that it was all gone as soon as Sammy was grown up again. _Enjoy it while it lasts..._


	33. Chapter 33

**Chapter 33**

Chandler woke up from an unsuspected slumber he had found himself in as the golden door to his shimmering cage was opened by one of the horrendous goblins left behind while the other went off to cause mayhem. It looked eagerly at him, like it had plans. He figured they weren't plans he'd find too appealing. They were more than likely plans to turn him into another horrid creature, like they had Jason.

As the creature reached in to capture him, Chandler kicked the creature hard and bolted out of the cage. _If no one else will save me, I'll have to do it myself._ His thoughts gave him some determination to get out of this awful treasure-filled chamber.

He pumped his kid legs as best he could, but being as malnourished as he was, he found it very difficult to get anywhere quickly. His legs felt wobbly and unreliable under his famished body. Chandler wasn't stupid. He may have been young, but he wasn't stupid. He knew there was no way he was going to be able to outrun the goblin in his current state. The best chance he had was to hide before the monster caught up.

He looked around the large chamber. Everything just looked golden and valuable. He jumped into a gold pile as quietly as he could and settled in like it was some snow pile. He couldn't help but feel like Scrooge McDuck, only his life was on the line. Or, at least, his human one was…


	34. Chapter 34

**Chapter 34**

Dean and Sammy lined up at the race's starting line. They weren't too concerned where they started in the crowded lineup. They weren't here to win. They were here to save lives.

All the participants awaited anxiously, ropes tied around their waist and to their partner, for the starting sound. Dean eyed the crowd. Sammy was definitely the youngest in the crowd. If they were here to win, they'd be out of luck. It was hopeless. The other kids were all at least ten years old, probably. Dean couldn't claim to be that great at judging kids' ages since he'd never had any of his own, not really.

Fortunately for everyone there, they were not there to win. They were there to save lives. Dean looked down at his little brother. He tried to relax. _This plan better work..._

"You ready?" Dean asked.

Sammy looked at him like this was the best day of his life. It was like he had totally forgotten that they were here on a hunt. For all Dean knew, maybe he had forgotten. Maybe he was totally a kid again. "Yeah!" He beamed.

They waited in silence. Finally, the gunshot signified the beginning of the race and the crowd was off! Dean watched as masses of people tore passed them wearing just as ridiculous outfits as he was. He had to intentionally move more slowly than he normally would have to let Sammy keep up. The kid was tiny and had the shortest legs at the race. He wasn't going anywhere too quickly.

"We're already losing!" Sammy complained, already sounding ready to give up.

"The race isn't over yet, bud. Let's go. No giving up." Dean hated each word he was saying. There was nothing he wanted to do more right then than give up and go change back into jeans and a suitable flannel shirt.

His words were about as inspirational as a poster with a cat hanging from a branch, but somehow they seemed to work on his kid brother. He smiled at Dean again and began pumping his legs as hard as he could. Dean didn't have to work too hard to keep pace with Sammy, but he could tell at the pace Sammy was trying to push himself at, it wouldn't be long before the kid hit empty.

The families gathered around to watch their loved ones race through the woods watched the brothers like they were puppies rolling around on fluffy pillows. There wasn't a cuter show on earth than little Sammy pushing himself as hard as he could to catch the other kids and his big brother, though most assumed he was the father, keeping pace behind him and making sure he was okay.

They reached the edge of the paved path and made their way into the woods. If there wasn't the threat of little vicious green men stealing children away, the run would have been nice. The forest was still and beautiful. Even though he knew the city was just yards away, Dean felt like the forest was far away from civilization and well-secluded.

It wasn't long before Sammy was panting and slowing down. Dean watched as the kid gave it his all and couldn't catch the big kids. He looked dejected. Dean placed a hand on his shoulder. "Tired?" Sammy shook his head, but it was clearly a lie. "It's okay to be tired. You're not as old as they are. Trust me, when you're grown up, you're going to bigger and stronger than all of them."

"You think so?" Sammy asked. It scared Dean a bit that Sammy couldn't remember being an adult anymore. He hoped that it didn't mean there wasn't a cure. Even though it meant losing his little brother's admiration and love, he knew he needed to return Sam to his normal self.

Dean smiled. "Yeah, I know so." Those words brought the cute smile back to Sammy's features. Dean swooped Sammy into his arms and placed him on his shoulders, letting Sammy ride him like a two-legged horse. He could feel Sammy's stomach against the back of his head, heaving in and out as he tried to catch his breath. He had really pushed himself. It made Dean proud. That was the Winchester way. You never surrendered. You never gave up.

"Hold on." Dean said. Sammy did as he was told and Dean took off into the woods, determined to catch up to the crowd. They couldn't protect anyone if they didn't have eyes on them.

Fortunately, Dean was one of the most fit, if not the most fit person at the race. Even with balancing Sammy on his shoulders, it only took a few minutes to catch up to them, but did involve him running harder than he really wanted to.

Once he had caught up, Dean didn't have to work very hard to keep pace with the kids and their partners. He just hoped that Clark was ready in case anything happened, and Dean was pretty sure something would happen. Something always happened.


	35. Chapter 35

**Chapter 35**

Chandler tried to remain as quiet as possible as the goblin searched around the chamber for him. He knew there was no escape from the monster, but something inside him wouldn't let him give up. He felt like he needed to postpone his horrid transformation into one of those disgusting monsters as long as possible. There was the slight hope that maybe his brother was looking for him, just like Sammy's came for him. Or maybe even Sammy would tell someone where he was.

The goblin didn't appear stupid. It knew as well as Chandler that there was no escape from the dungeon chamber. The only way out was the portal and he didn't know how to make one. He wasn't a wizard or anything. The goblin casually searched around the gold piles in the room, but hadn't begun actually searching in them. Chandler hoped that meant he had more time than he would have expected he'd have.

Chandler had to focus hard to keep himself from screaming. His voice felt nearly like a tsunami pressing against a dam, wanting nothing more than to be let out. But Chandler knew the moment he screamed, he'd be done for. But the horrible monster spoke. It spoke to him. It even knew his name. Its voice was gurgley and evil. "Chandler." It nearly whispered. "Come out, come out." It laughed. "You can hide, but you can't run."

Chandler held his breath, trying so hard to remain still and as silent as a ghost. He kind of wished he was like a ghost. At least then he could just pass through the walls in this awful room and be free. Anything would be better than being trapped in here.

"There's no reason to hide. I'm not gonna' kill you." It laughed a terrible laugh. "I'd never kill you. I just wanna' welcome you to the family." Through a devilish grin, the goblin began sifting through the gold piles. Chandler knew the hourglass was pouring out against him. There wasn't much time before the monster found him. He felt like he was in a scary movie, but he already knew the ending to this one, and it wasn't one he wanted.


	36. Chapter 36

**Chapter 36**

Sammy sat on top of his brother's shoulders, feeling higher than the world. Dean was so tall. He could feel Dean's sweat soaking through his shirt against his tiny legs. Dean was running a race with the extra weight of an entire kid on his shoulders, yet he kept up with everyone else without so much of a word of complaint or even a grunt or groan.

He watched as the kids in front of them were panting, trying to be the leader of the pack. Sammy wondered if they got tired, if their partners would let them ride on their shoulders. Probably not. No one else was as cool as Dean.

As the kids ran in front of them, Sammy lulled into a thoughtless daydream, letting the bouncing up and down of Dean's running calm him. He started to think about all the fun he'd had with Dean over the last couple days.

He was suddenly brought out of his daydream as the girl running in front of them screamed as she was tackled to the ground. Dean didn't miss a second. In one smooth motion, he lowered Sammy gently to the ground, cut the rope connecting them with the knife he'd kept in his shoe, and darted to the girl's rescue. The trouble was that it wasn't just the girl. All the kids were being attacked. There were goblins everywhere. Sammy wasn't sure what to do. He was a kid. That meant they'd be coming for him too, didn't it?

"Clark! Now!" Dean hollered at the top of his lungs. On cue, Clark ran out from behind the trees carrying three spray bottles full of the concoction they had created. He passed two to Dean, who in turn tossed one to Sammy.

Sammy looked at Dean with a confused expression. What was he supposed to do with this? Dean turned and began spraying the goblins around them with the lavender mixture. The goblins began screaming and wailing as the mixture soaked into their skin.

The concoction seemed to be working even better than they could have hoped. The goblins didn't stand a chance at this rate. Dean scanned the area. They had taken care of some of the goblins quickly, but there were still several left dragging kids away into the woods. Lucky for him, the kids were tied to adults, so it was slowing the goblins down considerably.

Dean took off toward the nearest kid being taken. The goblin was gnawing on the rope that connected the child to her adult counterpart. Somehow the goblin had knocked the adult unconscious. In just a few long strides Dean was at the kid spraying the goblin with lavender. Its skin boiled and burned as the last breath escaped its lungs.

The girl screamed. Her eyes were wide and full of terror. It was hard for her to understand that monsters and goblins were real. Dean couldn't blame her. Everyone they saved that saw what they were hunting reacted in the same way. Hell, he would have reacted the same way if he hadn't been raised into this life.

Sammy watched as Dean went from child to child spraying the goblins and saving the kids. Clark was doing the same thing on the other side of the walkway. He stared at the bottle Dean had tossed him. He knew what he should be doing, but somehow he couldn't get his feet to move him toward danger. His big brother made it seem so easy.

It didn't take long for the goblins to gather their senses and fight the hunters back. As Dean chased after a young boy being dragged away into the foliage, a small group of goblins jumped from the trees, tackling Dean to the ground. He went down hard, hitting his forehead on the uncovered section of a tree root.

He wouldn't have been surprised if he had literally seen stars when he opened his eyes back up. The goblins were crawling all over him, trying to subdue him. He felt like he was in Gulliver's Travels, only the people were horrible murderous monsters this time!

Despite their best efforts, the goblins were too small to keep Dean down. With a barbaric grunt and bulging muscles, he pressed himself back up onto his feet causing each of the goblins on his back to topple off. However, the monsters didn't miss a beat. They were quick to react. Knowing they couldn't overpower the large man, they went to outmaneuvering him.

The goblins practically ran circles around him, slashing at him with their sharp, child-snatching claws. Dean could feel the white-hot pain of deep slices going into him, but he couldn't let himself succumb to them. Kids were in danger. Not just any kids. Sammy. If he failed here, Sammy was a goner.

He sprayed the mixture at the goblins as best he could, but with them dancing around him like they were, it was hard to get any substantial amount to make contact with their skin. Dean knew it was like poison to them. He didn't give up. He knew if he sprayed enough of it they would fall.

He continued spraying as Sammy watched from the distance. The kid tried to force his feet to run to his big brother's rescue. With each determined mental push to move, Sammy could feel the terror-induced paralysis wearing off. Slowly he could get his feet to move. He warily made his way to Dean and helped him spray the monsters.

As each goblin fell to the ground, finally succumbing to the lavender poison, Dean looked down to his little brother and smiled. Sammy didn't smile back. Sammy looked at him with terror. He ran to his big brother. At first Dean couldn't understand what was wrong with the kid, but as the adrenaline in his body wore off, he knew why.

Dean felt his legs give out under him. He fell hard again, but this time landing on top of his brother. Sammy exhaled hard as the wind was knocked out of him by the large free-weight that was his brother pounding him to the ground.

From the floor, with Dean atop him, Sammy scanned the area. He didn't see any monsters. Maybe Clark had taken care of the rest. Clark was nowhere to be seen. He was probably chasing after kids who needed saved.

Dean's eyes flickered open. His body was beaten and bloody, but he was a hunter. He didn't have the luxury to collapse and relax. What would have put other men out for the count made him feel alive. It meant there was work to do. He looked over his cut-up body. His stupid tight tank top. His horribly short shorts. All that exposed skin. Thanks to it he was a bloody mess. His legs were cut up. His arms were cut up. His whole body was beaten. He sighed. _This sucks…_

Like the hunter he was, and to Sammy's amazement, Dean forced himself up off his brother and tried to focus himself. It took more effort than he would have liked just to stand upright without tumbling to the ground again.

He looked around. Clark was gone. The goblins seemed to have been taken care of, for the most part. The only left were probably just the stragglers that Clark was chasing. He reached down and picked his exhausted brother off the ground. Just lifting his tiny body made his arms hurt. His cuts bled a bit more as his muscles flexed to lift the weight.

Just as Sammy's feet were planted properly on the dirt, he screamed. "Dean, look out!" Before Dean could even turn to see what Sammy was gawking at, he felt something hard sucker punch him. He fell to the floor again. It was starting to feel like the place he belonged. Maybe things would be easier if he just stayed down. But Dean knew that wasn't an option. These goblins were after Sammy. They had already taken him once. They'd do it again. No. The floor was not where he belonged. He belonged between the monster and Sammy. His role in this was not the bloody mess on the floor. It was the barricade separating Sammy from the darkness of this world. It always had been. Ever since his Dad had first said "Take care of Sammy." It had been his job. In all reality, it was probably his job even before their Dad had said that. Dean had and would always be the barricade that kept Sammy safe from the darkness of the world, whether Sammy was five or twenty-five.

Getting back up Dean looked into the face of the problem. Standing before him wasn't just a goblin. It was a huge goblin. It was clearly the leader of the pack. Dean couldn't mess around with this one. This one meant business. It was time for him to live up to his role. It was time for him to stand between evil and Sammy. Mustering up all the fight left in him, Dean clenched his fist. He could feel the warmth of his own blood running down his arm and gathering in his closed palm. It made his fist wet, warm, but also determined. He wasn't going to let Sammy endure the same beating he had. With blood in his fist he charged the monster. It was time to put an end to this whole nightmare.


	37. Chapter 37

**Chapter 37**

As Chandler looked at the row of empty cages from his hiding place, it dawned on him. He was the only kid left. The rest had all been taken, even Cindy. He must have slept through it all. Chandler couldn't hold his breath any longer. There was no way he could stay hidden. His own fear. His hunger. His stupid need to breathe. They all conspired against him to get him caught. With a grumbling stomach and a reluctant deep breath, his hiding spot was compromised.

"There you are!" The beast hissed. His eyes met the boys. One pair determined and malicious. One scared and exhausted.

Chandler sprang out from the gold pile, his body protesting with each movement. He was too tired and hungry to be jumping around, but his determination to keep his own life as a human was strong. It gave him the push to keep going.

He ran as fast as he could despite knowing that ultimately there wasn't anywhere he could go. The room had no exits. It was just a large, oddly-shaped room.

His legs were too short. His body was too tired. It took mere seconds for the monster to catch him. Grabbing him tightly by his greasy hair, the goblin pulled Chandler down the hall that he had heard the weird fairy girl and big monster guy talking. It was an empty hallway. It led to nowhere.

Despite the obvious dead-end to the hallway, the goblin dragged Chandler toward the wall. Once they had reached the wall the goblin simply waved his hand in the air, sprinkling a small amount of the golden dust on the wall and the wall faded away right before Chandler's eyes.

The room behind looked like a laboratory. There were tables with straps to hold people down. There were horrible looking wooden chairs. In the corner was a pile of children's clothing. Chandler recognized some of the clothes over there. Jason's were there. It was true. They were turning kids into goblins. He tried to hold back tears. He knew he was next. There was nothing he could do. He was going to be a goblin. It was too much to hope that his brother or Sammy would come back for him. He was on his own.


	38. Chapter 38

**Chapter 38**

"Get out of my way." The huge goblin ordered. "He's mine."

"Over my dead body. Why don't you just get outta' here. I'm sure David Bowie's missing you." Dean spat the words.

"How dare you speak to me in such a manner. I am Rulin, king of the goblins in this land." The creature stood as tall as he could, rivaling Dean in size, dwarfing any of the monsters he claimed to rule.

"I don't give two shits who you are, Shrek. You're going down. Here and now." Dean sprayed the creature, but the effect was minimal. He could tell Rulin didn't like it, but it wasn't enough to kill him. He was going to need a bigger spray bottle. Or a new plan.

The monster laughed a weasely laugh shooting snot out of his pointy nose. Dean's face scrunched up a revulsion. "Now you die." The monster threatened as it charged the older brother like a freight train.

Dean braced himself as the goblin king rammed hard into him, sending his already weak and bloody body onto the floor ungracefully.

"Dean!" Sammy shouted. He didn't know what to do. He raised the spray bottle in his hand. The almost full-quantity sloshed back in forth in the plastic container, just itching to be sprayed. Sammy took a deep breath and readied himself for a frontal assault on a king over twice as big as him. With determination in his eyes, he stepped forward, until he made eye-contact with his brother.

Dean was staring at Sammy with forceful eyes. "Sammy, stop. Don't come close."

"But, Dean!" Sammy shouted. He cringed as Rulin landed a brutal punch on Dean's stomach. His big brother heaved in pain, curling up like a gory caterpillar.

"Get Clark!" Dean shouted.

"Right!" Sammy bolted off into the woods completely unaware of the tiny set of eyes watching his every move. He didn't have to run far when he found Clark kneeling by an unconscious man with a terrified daughter.

"He'll be fine." Clark comforted her. "He's just sleeping."

"Clark" Sammy shouted at the top of his lungs, fear ringing clearly in his voice. Clark pulled a gun from his belt and unsteadily pointed it at Sammy as he about fell straight onto his butt.

"The hell are you scaring me for ya' little monster?!" Clark said sounding angry.

"Dean! He needs you."

Clark let out a heavy sigh. He sat there for moment, almost like he was weighing out whether he should go help or not. He looked at Sammy and then back to the gun in his hand. Sammy saw something in Clark's eyes that made him very uncomfortable.

"Clark!" Sammy shouted again. The man looked at Sammy with fierce, un-trusting eyes.

"Aren't you gonna' help his friend?" The girl asked, sounding desperate.

Clark sighed again. "Yeah, right." He stood up and headed in Sammy's direction. "I'm coming."

Dean shook his head as he forced himself off the ground. Peeling his tank top off, he readied his fists in the air. This was gonna' be a fight, raw and rough. Dean against a monster. He was ready. This was his job. Nothing was going to come between him and protecting his little brother.

Rulin made the first move swinging his fist hard toward Dean's right cheek, like they were pinned in some monstrous boxing match. Dean swung his head back, almost quickly and hard enough to give himself whiplash, but he knew had Rulin's fist made contact, he'd have been walking away with a broken jaw. If he was left walking at all...

It was the human's turn. Dean clenched his bloody fist and took his hardest swing. He was aiming for the creatures nasty face. Rulin raised his arms up, blocking the impact of Dean's fist, but Dean was ready. He was a hunter. He played dirty. As his fist was blocked, Dean pushed all his strength into his leg as he kicked at Rulin. The punch may have missed, but the kick was dead-on.

Rulin cried out in pain, but it was short-lived. It was clear to Dean that this guy was unfortunately as tough as most the other monsters they faced. A simple punch or kick wasn't gonna' take him down. This was gonna' take all he had. He raised his fists up and readied himself again.

Dean ducked and weaved, trying at all costs to avoid the monster's large fists, while at the same time throwing his own punches Rulin's way. Unfortunately, Dean knew it was a losing fight. He was already so beaten and tired. He couldn't keep this up much longer!

Tired of the games, short-lived as they had been, Rulin reached into his belt's holster and pulled out a curved dagger. It looked ancient and strange, like something out of a fantasy movie. Dean's eyes popped out wide as he stared at the size of the huge blade. He had already been cut up by the little goblin's sharp claws, but he'd survive those. This thing was so menacing and angry looking, he wasn't so sure he'd survive a run-in with it.

As the monster king began slashing, Dean went onto the defensive. He hadn't the luxury of throwing punches anymore. All his effort was focused on not dying. As Rulin slashed the dagger quickly through the air, Dean could almost hear the very air itself being cut in half. Unfortunately for him, the air wasn't the only thing the dagger cut.

He could instantly feel the burning pain of the slash. Dean watched as more of his own blood was flung from his body in an arch with the slashing of the blade. Droplets of blood splattered on the ground and tree around him. He looked at the wound. It wasn't as bad as it first seemed. It wasn't too deep. Thankfully, Dean's hunter-instincts saved him from the brunt of the dagger, leaving just a shallow slice. He'd live, if he could end this fight soon.


	39. Chapter 39

**Chapter 39**

Sam broke through the brush with Clark right on his heels. The first thing he saw was Dean back on his feet. Immediately he felt waves of relief flow through him, but it was unfortunately short-lived. Upon closer inspection, he could see that Dean was beaten.

His big brother stood before him, bouncing on his toes like a boxer in the ring. Dean had lost his tank top and was clad in just his tiny running shorts. Sam watched his brother fight for his life. His biceps were swollen as he focused his strength into his arms with each deflection he threw as the goblin's large knife swung fatally toward him. Sam watched as the blood from the beating ran down fron Dean's chest and lingered in each deep crevice of his abs. His leg muscles tightened as he bounced, ready to dodge and weave from each swipe where his arms couldn't defend him. The sight before Sam inspired him. His brother was so cool! He was literally fighting for his life against a huge monster with his bare hands. There wasn't a cooler brother in the whole world.

The inspiration made Sammy feel like he could do more. He looked at the bottle in his hands, but just before he ran in to save his big brother, he remembered Dean's fierce eyes telling him not to risk it. He wanted Clark instead. Sammy couldn't deny that it hurt him a bit that he was too small to help his big brother, but that was the nature of the facts. Clark was better suited for combat.

Sammy was brought out of his thoughts a bit confused. All of it happened so fast he nearly forgot that the fight was still happening. The shot of a handgun rang loudly through the woods. It was so loud it made Sammy's ears ring. Clark ran past him and straight into the fight.

Rulin was stumbling back as the bullet lodged itself into his right shoulder. Nasty green fluid began seeping from it like toxic waste. As he stumbled back, Clark tackled the creature and screamed at Dean. "Finish him!"

Dean smirked as he thought briefly about that hot, blonde police officer from that bad movie, and ran through his head all the different options he had to kill the monster. He looked at the rocks on the ground, but none of them were big enough to be fatal. He saw the monster's big dagger, but it was still firmly grasped by the creature's huge hands. There was no guarantee he could pry it from Rulin's grip. He looked around more. Finally his eyes settled on his kid brother. He had an idea. He crossed his fingers and hoped it would work. "Sammy!"

Sammy snapped to attention at his name and looked at his brother, his attention totally honed into his every word and motion. "What?!" His child-voice sounded both scared and obedient.

"Pass me your spray bottle!" Dean hollered. His voice was coarse and tired. But Sammy knew he didn't have time to pity Dean and the beating he had to take on account of Sammy's inability to fight. Every second counted. Who knew how long Clark could hold down such a mighty creature? Sammy threw the bottle across the short distance that separated him from the big brother he loved so much.

The bottle flew through the air in what seemed like slow-motion to Dean, but at least it was on it's way. With ease, adrenaline pumping through his exhausted and over-worked muscles, he grasped the bottle firmly in his hand and tore the cap off. With the liquid now free to flow from the bottle in large quantity, he jammed it down Rulin's mouth as Clark held him on the ground.

It was a trick that Bobby had taught him when fighting demons. If you poured holy water or salt down their throat the poisonous materials could really take work in the core. It seemed goblins were no different, not even goblin kings. Rulin began flailing and coughing harshly, blood spurting out of his mouth as the lavender ate away at his flesh and innards.

After convulsing a bit more, the large goblin finally stopped moving. Dean smiled at Clark, but he didn't respond in-kind. Dean turned back to congratulate his brother, but Sammy was gone. He looked all around, a new rush of adrenaline pumping into him as panic threatened to suffocate him. Before his worry overwhelmed his voice, Dean let out a loud shout. "SAMMY!"

Sammy woke up with a painful bump on his head as he was being dragged through the woods. He looked back, but there was no one behind him. There weren't any legs marching him through the woods. Who was moving him? Or how was he moving?

The answer became clear when he looked up. A small woman with tiny wings was struggling a great deal to drag the kid through the woods by the shoulder straps of his tank top. Nothing about the trip was comfortable. Sammy's ears perked up as he heard his big brother's voice echo through the woods, bouncing off each tree. He was yelling his name.

Overcome by the fear of being stolen away from his brother, Sammy started crying and screamed at the top of his lungs. The shrill screech echoed even more vividly through the woods, totally drowning out Dean's voice. The small fairy stopped and looked at Sammy in anger, knowing that their position had just been given away. "You stupid brat!" She scolded as she smacked him hard on the cheek. Sammy was surprised at how much it hurt since her hand was so small. She was no bigger than Dean's hand.

Dean heard his brother's voice carry over the trees. "This way!" He shouted. He was so thankful at that very moment for all the tips that Bobby had taught them about hunting. Not the monster hunting. Just normal hunting. He taught them how to track through the woods. How to survive off the land. And how to pinpoint which direction noises were coming from. That last talent was what was going to save Sammy's life if Dean had anything to say about it. Dean took off into the woods, Clark following him, in the direction of his little damsel-in-distress-brother.


	40. Chapter 40

**Chapter 40**

Chandler woke up strapped on the table in the center of the laboratory. He tried to move any limb, but couldn't. The only movement he could muster was his head, but he kinda' wished he couldn't look. That way he wouldn't let his curiosity beat him into looking at something he might not want to have seen.

Curiosity did beat him. He turned his head in the direction of the goblin, who was humming in a horridly, devilish voice some tune he had never heard before. It was like something straight out of one of the old black-and-white monster movies. They were the only scary movies his mom would let him watch because no one really found them scary anymore. Usually in the movies there was some mad scientist brewing some horrible potion or something to defeat the hero or hurt the innocent. Chandler couldn't really find too many differences from the villains in the movies to his situation right then. It was clear that the goblin was cooking up something that Chandler wouldn't appreciate. More than likely it was what would turn him into a goblin.

"What are you making?" Chandler asked, not really wanting an honest answer. He wanted the goblin to say that he was just cooking some Mac' N' Cheese, or hot dogs, or something like that.

He wasn't cooking any of those.

"Just a little something for you." The goblin sneered. "And you won't like the taste."

"What is it?"

"Just a little something to make you as handsome as me." The goblin laughed terribly. "You should be so grateful!"

Chandler did not find him funny. The news hit Chandler like a smack to the cheek. It was his worst fear coming true. The strange thing was that he had known that was what the goblin was making. Why was it making him panic any more than he already was? He wasn't sure. Maybe it was just because now there was no room for making up some other fanciful story. Now he knew it was the truth, as trustworthy as laws written in stone.

Chandler knew. This was his last day alive. At least, as a human being...


	41. Chapter 41

**Chapter 41**

Dean ran in his tiny running shorts, finally appreciating them for what they were. Before, he was doing nothing more than jogging- something he could have done in his jeans just fine. Now, he was sprinting. Sprinting as hard as he could. His legs were moving faster than he ever thought possible, each motion feeling free and unrestricted by the lack of fabric covering them. Dean almost felt good running. It was almost so nice he'd have to take back every mean thing he'd ever said or thought about runners. Almost.

He came to a stop as he found his brother, his tank top clutched tightly by a Tink. Dean recognized her. She was from the group in Evansville. She had escaped.

"Let him go!" Dean said, holding back his need to pant from his run. Nothing looked less threatening or intimidating than someone wheezing after a run.

"No way, doofus!" Mixy spat.

Dean stifled a laugh. "You kidnap my brother days after you've last seen us, I'm assuming to get revenge, and the best you can come up with is doofus?"

She huffed audibly. "Don't test me. I can kill him."

"You so much as touch a hair on his head, I will rip you apart." Dean threatened, each word as cold as ice. "You're smaller than my-" Dean looked at his kid brother and thought twice about being crass. "Well, you're small and I can literally crush you in one hand."

"Try it." She said, tightening the tank top around Sammy's torso and neck as she flew a bit higher off the ground to be eye-level with the giant brother.

Dean took one step forward and stopped. Mixy dropped Sammy to the ground and pulled out a knife from behind his back. Dean knew that knife. It was Ruby's knife!

"Where'd you get that?!" Dean hollered.

"Guess you don't watch your things very carefully." The smirk that crossed her tiny face made Dean want to stomp her under his way-too-brightly-colored running shoe.

"Drop that knife now." Dean said strenly.

"Back off. I _will_ use this on him."

"No you won't." Sammy gambled.

"Sammy, don't talk." Dean ordered.

"She won't kill me. She needs me to get her magic back so that she can go back to Neverland."

"Really?" Dean asked, eyeing the fairy suspiciously. Sammy just nodded lightly until Mixy punched him hard on the head. Dean's eyes went wide with hate. "Stop!"

"Then back off. I will kill him." Mixy threatned. "Just to hurt you! Like you killed all my family."

"Yeah, sorry about that." Dean said with a smirk. His eyes got serious. "Except not really. You're monsters and all deserve to die."

From behind him Dean heard the cock of a gun. He looked back at Clark who was raising a gun toward Sammy and Mixy. "Shoot her!" Dean hollered.

Mixy raised the knife. "I'll kill him!"

"Do it!" Dean hollered again. Clark took aim, but glanced at Dean briefly before he pulled the trigger. Dean looked into Clark's eyes and was confused. His eyes looked nervous. They looked like the eyes of someone unsure of himself. Of someone doing something he wasn't sure he really wanted to do. Of someone betraying an ally.

Before Clark's finger could finish pulling the trigger. Dean bolted from his place. "SAMMY!" He shouted, fear shaking his deep voice. He closed the space between him and Sammy in no time. The tiny bomb in the metal tool went off, ringing loudly across the woods, and the bullet raced from the barrel of Clark's old six-shooter.

In less than a full second the bullet raced from Clark and lodged itself in Dean's shoulder as he jumped in front of his little brother just in the nick of time. Any time longer and the bullet would have blasted Sammy's kid-head into pieces, sending his academic brain-matter everywhere.

Everyone, including Mixy, looked at Clark like a traitor. Dean was on the ground and bleeding. He looked like a mess of blood and bruises, from the punches, the scratches, the cuts, and now a bullet wound. "Dean!" Sammy shouted, hoping to death that his brother was alive.

Sammy jumped to go see if his brother was alright, but Mixy grabbed him quickly, pulling him back. "This is all getting too complicated. We're going back to Neverland, NOW!" She began sucking the energy out of Sammy to restore her own magical powers so she could return home. Sammy screamed out as an eerie light began flowing from his person into Mixy. The pain was unlike anything he had ever felt. It was like someone was gripping his very soul and crushing it in a firm grip, but at the same time it felt like he was light-headed and about to pass out from drinking too much alcohol.

His screams brought Dean immediately back into the fight. _It'll take more than a bullet to keep me down!_ Dean's determination brought him back to his knees as he threw himself at Clark, tackling the man to the ground. Clark was overthrown easily as he was distracted by Sammy's screaming and odd predicament. Dean quickly wrestled the six-shooter out of his hand, thankful that Clark was using the opposite gun he had used on Rulin.

He turned, ignoring Clark for the moment, and shot Mixy with the accuracy of a Winchester. The bullet took the small fairy's head clean off and the concoction the bullet had been soak in kept her head from magically returning. Her body melted away as the poisonous mixture worked over the Tink's corpse.

Without even a moment to celebrate Dean was kicked hard to the ground, feeling a large boot dig into his back and small rocks and sticks dig into his bare chest and stomach. "You ass." Clark spat, literally on Dean.

"Clark!" Sammy shouted.

"Shut up, ya' little demon!" Clark ordered. "I just couldn't believe that a hunter would be working with demons. Especially a hunter as famous as one of the Winchester boys. The very son of John Winchester himself! Someone that Bobby Singer respects. And Ellen!" Clark sighed. "It just doesn't make sense. Now I have to kill you like the monster you are. It was clear that the little fairy shit wasn't going to do it." He looked down at Dean, who couldn't see him because his face was pressed into the ground. "And I was going to let big brother live. But now I know I can't. You won't stop hunting me after I kill your kid brother, and I know Dean Winchester is not someone I want hunting me."

"There's one thing we agree on." Dean said angrily, the dirt muffling his voice.

Clark raised his gun again. "I'm sorry, Dean. I know you're not a monster, but ya' gotta' die."

"Screw you."

"Whatever. Don't say I didn't try to end things with you kindly." Clark raised the gun to the back of Dean's head and pressed his finger against the trigger. "I'll tell the roadhouse you died a brave and honorable death."

Dean held his breath, his face pressed into the dirt and unable to see what Clark was doing. But he could tell from the situation that he was about to be shot in the head. The bullet blasted out of the barrel and Dean clenched his eyes shut and tightened all his muscles and began wondering where he'd go after he died.

It then occurred to Dean, as the ring of the bullet faded from his ears, that if he had enough time to wonder where his poor soul would be going after he died, then he wasn't dead at all. Feeling that the weight was no longer on his back, he rolled over to assess the situation.

Sammy was on top of Clark and stabbing him repeatedly with Ruby's knife. Dean stared with wide eyes. It was like _Children of the Corn_ met _Psycho_. He quickly hopped over to his little brother and pulled him off the mutilated corpse of Clark.

Sammy cried loudly and hard into his brother's bloody bare chest. Dean pushed the pain down as his brother's head pressed against his bruises and cuts. Being a big brother often meant enduring things like this. His little brother cried with no sign of lightening up. It was like the hurricane had finally come to town. Water ran down the kid's puffy cheeks and began rinsing blood off Dean's chest.

He picked his little brother up in a tight hug and actually starting bouncing him and rocking him like a mother comforting her baby. "It's okay." He shushed his brother and repeated the words tenderly. "It's okay. It's okay."

"He was going to hurt you!" Sammy shouted through short gasps of air and wailing. "He shot you!"

"I'm okay, Sammy. I'm okay. You're okay. We're both okay." Dean comforted him. He pulled Sammy's head off his chest and looked into the tear-filled eyes. "I'm okay. You saved me."

"I killed someone. You're not supposed to kill people!" Sammy balled.

"You didn't have a choice. You saved my life, Sammy."

Sammy didn't seem to notice. He just cried and cried, but Dean didn't mind. He knew Sammy was an emotional adult with guilt over hurting and killing people. It only made sense that he was emotional as a kid too. The thought bothered him. Adult. They had killed the Tink that had put the spell on him. Why was he still a kid? Dean sighed. That would have to wait. Right now he had a brother that needed some serious love and assurance.

After rocking and shushing Sammy for what felt like forever, Dean put him down. Sammy's crying had died, not because he felt better, but because there were no more tears to cry and he needed to seriously catch his breath. Dean looked at the area. Rulin's body and Mixy's body had both melted away and were now just piles of nasty goo that would eventually fade away without anyone noticing. However, Clark's body was freshly killed and needed to be hidden before the wrong eyes came along and saw it. But what could they do about it?

Sammy perked up. "Dean!" He shouted almost excitedly.

Dean quickly looked at his brother, a bit alarmed at his sudden change in mood. "What?"

"We can't forget about Chandler!"

"You mean Susan's kid?" Dean asked perplexed. "Where is he?"

"He was with me when I got caught. He's at the goblins' lair."

Dean couldn't believe he was hearing the words 'goblins' lair' in real life. "Okay. But how do we get there?"

Sammy looked around on the ground and ran to the pile of goo that was once Rulin. "This!" He said, scooping nothing but air up in his hands.

"What?"

"The golden dust!"

"You mean there's golden dust here?"

"Yeah, he must have been carrying some." Sammy explained. "We can use it to get there and back."

"You're sure?" Dean asked, selfishly unwilling to risk trapping Sammy in some weird lair for the sake of some kid.

"Yeah!"

Somehow the enthusiastic assurance of his five-year-old brother didn't instill him with much confidence that this quickly thought-up scheme would really work. But what other choice did they have? The hunter in him wouldn't let some kid be left to the monsters when they had a chance at saving him.

"Lead the way." Dean said, gesturing with his hand as if to let Sammy go in front of him. Sammy closed his eyes tightly and then threw the golden dust, though to Dean it looked like nothing, into the air. Dean watched as that nothing turned into an amazing something. A golden portal appeared before Sammy.

"Let's go!" Sammy said in a hurry. Dean ran forward and took Sammy's outstretched hand and together they faced the portal.

"Wait!" Dean said, stopping. "I have an idea."


	42. Chapter 42

**Chapter 42**

Chandler watched as the goblin marched back over to the table with some steaming pot of something that smelled awful! His face scrunched up at the smell. Whatever it was, Chandler hoped he wouldn't be forced to drink it. Of course, he knew that was exactly what he was going to be forced to do.

As the goblin held the pot over his mouth, a voice could be heard echoing from large chamber with the cages. It bounced off the cold, stone walls of the lair and lingered in the laboratory like a sparkle of hope for Chandler. He knew that voice. That was Sammy's voice! He had come back!

"In here!" Chandler screamed. "Hurry! He's going to kill me!"

"What's going on?! Who is that and how did they get here?" The goblin questioned no one in particular. Brandishing his crooked dagger, he placed the pot down and prepared for the intruders.

Chandler listened with excitement as footsteps could be heard heading in his direction. Each second they were a bit louder. Help was coming! It seemed his prayers might be answered!

Just as he had hoped, Sammy ran into the room. "Chandler!" The kid shouted. Locating him on the table, Sammy ran over to Chandler.

"You came back for me!" He shouted, so happy he wouldn't have been able to hold still if he wasn't strapped to the table. "Be careful, there's a goblin-"

Sammy cut him off. "Dean's handling him." Chandler looked to the end of the table, over his feet where he could barely see. He had been so focused on Sammy coming back he hadn't even noticed the huge adult in the room.

The guy looked huge and tough. He could see the big muscles on him, as well as a lot of blood and dirt. Chandler watched as the man easily overcame the goblin with some spray bottle. He looked back at Sammy and noticed that he was also covered in blood.

"Are you guys okay?" Chandler asked.

Sammy smirked a bit. "Yeah, we've been fighting a lot of goblins. We even killed the king!"

Chandler couldn't believe what he was hearing. Was this nightmare really over? "Seriously?"

"Yeah!" Sammy exclaimed as he continued to try to undo the leather straps holding Chandler down, but his kid arms just couldn't muster enough power to get them to untighten.

The big guy walked over. He loomed over Chandler. He would have been scared of him if he didn't know that he was a goblin-fighting guy. He was here to save him. "You okay?" The big guy asked.

Chandler nodded his head as much as he could. "Yeah, I think so."

"Good. Let's get you out of here." With ease, he pulled the straps off Chandler. "I'm Dean, by the way."

"You're Sammy's big brother?" He asked.

"Sam's" Sammy chimed in. "Only Dean can call me Sammy."

"Sorry." Chandler said, looking at Sam like he was weird.

Dean laughed. "Sorry, he doesn't let other people call him Sammy. But, yeah, I'm his big brother. We're here to rescue you."

"Thanks for coming for me." Chandler said to Dean.

"Don't thank me. It was his idea." Dean pointed at Sammy.

"Thanks, Sam. For coming back for me. For a while I thought you had ditched me."

"I only ditched you to get help." Sam said. "Sorry I couldn't tell you."

"I don't care anymore." Chandler laughed. "I'm just so happy you've saved me." He looked around the room. "You did save me, right?"

Dean looked at Chandler oddly. "Yeah, why wouldn't we be saving you?"

"I just mean, there's no doors here. How do we leave?"

"I know how!" Sammy practically shouted holding his hand out. Chandler could see that there was some golden dust in it. "Let's go!"

Dean considered telling Sammy to wait so he could go back and grab some gold from the other room, but he thought better of it. Monster gold was always cursed or something. "Lead the way."

Sammy threw the golden dust in the air and they all watched as a golden portal formed in the air. Chandler watched in amazement as his salvation opened right before his eyes. There really was a way home, and his ride had just arrived. Holding hands, their small ones in his big ones, Dean led the kids through the portal and back to the motel. Leaving the gold, cages, dead goblin, and dead Clark behind, they stepped into the world they were all so eager to be back in.


	43. Chapter 43

**Chapter 43**

Susan screamed the moment she opened the door. Before her stood three boys. Two small ones and a big one. The best thing was that one of the small ones was her own son! She would never admit it to anyone, but she was beginning to give up hope that he was even alive. She had already prepared herself to write him off as dead and grieve.

She hugged her son so tightly he literally cried out in pain. She drew back, a smile bigger than the Joker's spread across her tired face. "I'm _so_ relieved to see you, sweetie!" She hugged him again. "I'm so happy you're back! Are you okay?"

"I am now." He said, just as happy to see his mom as she was to see him.

After hugging for what seemed to be eternity, and ignoring the other two boys standing on their porch, Susan stood up, tears in her eyes, and looked at the boys like they were God Himself. "I can't thank you enough." Her voice was shaky and oozing sincerity. Dean and Sammy could honestly tell that they just changed this woman's life for the better. It made them feel good. It gave Dean some sort of feeling of purpose, like maybe hunting was his calling. Since Hell, he just hadn't felt the fire for hunting that he once had, but somehow this felt like it was the beginning of a change.

"It's no problem ma'am." Dean started. "We're just happy to help."

"I just don't know how to thank you." She said. "There's no price I could put on what you've done. You saved my son."

"Sincerely, we're just happy to help." Dean assured her, trying to smile through the bruises and cuts that were too fresh to ignore, their pain too new to fade into the background. This was a fact that Susan didn't miss.

"You look beat up!" She exclaimed, sounding like she had just adopted Dean as her own son. "What happened? Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Dean lied as Susan scanned him up and down.

"Just what did you endure..." Her voice faded. "I don't know what you went through to save my son, but thank you. Really. Thank you." Her words had a certain healing effect on Dean. It made each wound worth it, beyond the purpose of saving Sammy. He wasn't just protecting Sammy and himself. He was saving other family's loved ones too. It felt good.

"I seriously don't know how to thank you and your little brother." She said apologetically. "If there's anything I can offer or do for you..."

"Seriously, we're just happy to help." Dean said, trying to ignore her words that were scratching at his brain. 'Little brother'. It was true Sammy would always be his little brother in one sense: he would always be younger. However, in many other ways he was the bigger brother. He looked down at his five-year-old Sammy. But now he wasn't. They had killed the Tink but he was still a kid.

After talking a bit more and enduring a few more hugs, Dean drove Sammy back to the motel. He may still be a kid. They may still have some problems to solve, but it was getting late. Dean was sore. He was hungry. He was dirty. He was tired. He looked at his brother. It looked like he was in the exact same condition.


	44. Chapter 44

**Chapter 44**

Dean had spoken to Bobby on the way home, working extra hard to hide his concern and conversation through ambiguous wording that he knew Bobby could figure out. The only answer Bobby had at the moment was to wait and see if things change. Sometimes spells take time to wear off, some hours, some days, some weeks, or even years. But Bobby had said that it was very, _very_ rare for a spell to last an entire lifetime without being tied to something and a powerful spellcaster casting it. Granted, a Tink could be considered a powerful spellcaster, if she was dead, there seemed little chance that the spell was still tied to something. Bobby figured the spell would wear off. Until then, Dean would just have to be patient.

Sitting in a chair in their motel room Dean was doing his best at being patient. Sammy was truly a kid again. He seemed to have no moments of adult maturity anymore. He only hoped that it wasn't a sign that Sammy would never turn back into an adult.

Pulling himself out of his thoughts, Dean looked at his brother. He was filthy, and he didn't even need to look at himself to know that he was a mess. He forced himself out of his chair and onto his feet.

"Come on, Sammy." He said to the kid as he headed to the bathroom.

"What?" Sammy said, heading over to his older brother.

"We're a mess. Let's clean up."

"Fine." Sammy whined. He had never liked bath time as a kid and would always pitch a fit for Dad. But for Dean he'd do it, though he usually wouldn't be happy about it. Sammy had always had a respect for Dean and a comfortableness around Dean that he definitely didn't have with Dad.

He set up the shower for little Sammy and left him to clean himself off, but left the door cracked. He figured he wouldn't need anything, but part of his over-protectiveness wouldn't let him totally shut the door. It didn't take Sammy any more than fifteen minutes to finish his shower. Dean helped him dry off and then turned the t.v. on to Cartoon Network before peeling off his clothes and jumping in the shower himself.

Dean stood under the hot water of the shower with his little brother ion his mind. It brought him back to their real childhoods. They often were stuck in run-down motels that no responsible parent would ever even have nightmares of keeping their kids in. Many times they'd be in a rush to get going, often because Dad knew it wouldn't be long before the authorities would find a suspicious body from one of his hunts and start looking for answers. This often resulted in Sam and Dean having to shower up as quickly as possible. Not this time. He lingered under the warm water as he considered the predicament he and his brother were in. Killing the Tink hadn't returned Sam to normal. What now? He shook his head as he could think of no options other than what Bobby had already offered him. All he could do was wait and see what would happen.

The water felt both good against his aching muscles and sore skin, but stung his cuts, scratches and bullet wound. He had fished the bullet out just before hopping in the shower, so it was still bleeding, but at the moment Dean just didn't care. He'd fix it up later, though he'd hate doing it. When Sammy was an adult, he would fix Dean up. He did it better.

Once he was all cleaned, he turned the shower off and wrapped a cheap motel towel around his waist before stepping back out to the room he shared with Sammy. He tried to walk as if he was fine, but in truth, his body was beaten. He was in pain, but it was worth it.

"Are you okay?" Sammy asked, looking up at his brother.

"Yeah." Dean smiled placing one hand on his still-open bullet wound and the other on Sammy's damp head. "Just glad you're safe."

"I'm glad you're safe!" Sammy smiled hugging his brother as tightly as he could.

"Thanks." Dean said, still struggling with mixed feelings. He knew the moment Sammy was grown up again he wouldn't get hugs anymore. He wouldn't hear the loving words of his five-year-old brother. But it had to be so. Sammy couldn't stay a kid forever. No decent older brother would leave his little brother like that. And if Bobby was right, it was only a matter of time now.

Finishing their hug, he sighed a sigh of relief. The nightmare was practically over. All they had to do now was wait for Sammy to sprout back up to his gargantuan size so they could get back on with their rough lives. But they were rough lives that Dean couldn't see himself trading for anything. As long as Sammy was with him, little or big, he could face Hell itself again.

He got Sammy dressed into his pajamas before drying himself off and pulling up a pair of boxer-briefs. "You cool if we head to bed, Sammy?" Dean asked eyeing the clock. It was only 7:30, but Dean was wiped. "I'm just too tired to stay awake."

Sammy walked over to Dean and hopped up onto his bed. "You deserve to sleep." He smiled a kid's heart-melting smile.

"Thanks." Dean said through a light chuckle. Sammy was always thinking about Dean's needs. He hoped against hope that even as an adult, when he was working with Ruby he was still, somewhere in that confused mind and heart, thinking about his needs, just like Dean was always thinking about Sammy's needs.

Dean hopped into his bed and Sammy snuggled up beside him and pressed tightly against him. Dean looked at Sammy a bit confused and smiled. "You know we beat the monsters, right? It's safe for you to sleep in your own bed."

Sammy's face scrunched up. "I don't wanna' sleep where Clark slept." Dean nodded his understanding. That was a fair point. "And I wanna' sleep with you. I don't like sleeping alone." Dean laughed at Sammy's words. It was amazing how growing up changed people. It was true that growing up Sammy never wanted to sleep alone, and he definitely didn't want to sleep with Dad. He always, _always_ wanted to sleep with Dean. Then one day he was too old to want to sleep with Dean anymore. It was both a sad day and a happy day for Dean. On one side, he'd miss sleeping with Sammy. He loved Sammy more than anything in the world. Maybe even more than Lisa, the closest woman to a serious girlfriend or wife he'd ever had. But on the other side he did like having an entire bed to himself.

Dean pulled Sammy in as tightly to him as he could and turned the lights off. "Good night, Sammy." He said, kissing the kid on his head. "Tomorrow we'll head back to Uncle Bobby's house, sound good?"

"Sounds good." Sammy said and yawned.

The brothers slept comfortably for the first time in several nights. There was no stranger in the room. There was no threat of goblins or trolls sneaking in and stealing people away. There was no hunt to focus on. It was just a night to sleep.

It wasn't until the loud sound of fabric tearing that Dean woke up in the middle of the night with his arm around a very different, but just as familiar body. Sleep still lingering in his eyes and slowing his mind, Dean slowly smiled knowing that he had his sasquatch of a brother back. Killing the fairy had really broken the spell. He could tell Sammy was also awake, but just barely, like him. He pulled his giant brother in tightly against him and smiled. It was good to have him back. Then something occurred to him.

"Sammy?" He said tiredly.

"Yeah?" Came the sleep-filled, deep voice of the brother Dean drank beer with. The brother he drove across the country with. The brother he talked girls and sex with. The brother he did everything with. The brother he hunted with.

"You're naked, aren't you?"

There was a long pause.

"Yeah."

Another long pause.

Finally Dean tightened his arm around Sammy for one last sappy hug like he had when he was little and then with all the force he could muster, he kicked him out of his bed. "Get outta' my bed you weird perv!" He hollered while stifling a giggle.

Sammy grunted as he landed on the floor hard. "What the hell, dude!?" He stood up and turned the lights on.

"Clothing, Sammy. We're not cavemen here." Dean said giving Sammy his best 'duh' face. "I'll kick your ass in the morning for climbing into my freakin' twin sized bed without any clothes on in the morning." With that Dean fell silent.

Sammy remembered being a kid. He remembered everything. "Hey, Dean." Sammy said quietly.

"Mmm?" Was all his older brother managed to get out as he propped himself up to look at his brother.

"Thanks."

"For?"

"Everything. For taking care of me." Sammy started. "I remember it all. Thanks for protecting me. Feeding me. Bathing me. Thank you for saving me and never giving up." Sammy sighed through a comfortable smile. He was happy to be with his brother. "And please know that I do love you. I always have and I always will. Don't think that just because I'm an adult again that I don't love you."

"Sammy..." Dean said calmly and then fell silent for a few long seconds. "Clothing." He said plainly. "Why you gotta' make this weird?" Dean faux-complained.

"Seriously, Dean. I love you."

Another lingering silence.

"Love you, too."

Sammy could tell Dean meant those words and went over to Dean's duffel bag, since Dean had moved his adult clothes back into the Impala, and threw on a pair of what he hoped were clean briefs. "Oh, and Dean."

"Yeah?" Dean said through a long yawn.

"Technically, I got into this bed with clothes on. I just outgrew them really fast."

"Whatever. Technicalities won't save you from a beating in the morning."

Sammy chuckled. "Good luck, since I'm bigger than you now." He went into the bathroom and grabbed their first aid kit before sitting beside Dean on his bed.

"Still a sissy, though."

"We'll see tomorrow." Sam taunted him. "Now let me fix this up." Dean sat up, despite how badly he wanted to just fall asleep, and let Sammy work on him. It seemed like a better choice than bleeding out on the motel bed.

The procedure took a few minutes and only dragged a few groans and gritted teeth out of Dean as Sammy pulled the bullet out and patched up the wound. With that, Sammy stood back up and looked at the bed Clark had slept in. "I still don't really want to sleep in his bed."

"Sorry. You're too big for this was, Gigantor."

"Have you seen yourself? I wouldn't wanna' sleep with your beat-up self anyway." Sam furrowed at him in faux-disgust. "You'd probably bleed on me."

"Bitch." Dean said while resisting a smile and turned the lights back off before falling comfortably back onto his bed.

"Jerk."


End file.
